On August 12, 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau released 2020 Census data files needed by the 50 states for redistricting. This includes data collected during the decennial census at the county, municipal and census tract/block level. While this data is publicly available on the Census Bureau’s website, the format requires data users to use additional specialized software and extra steps to extract the data.
The Census Bureau has announced that the same 2020 Census data will be available in an easier-to-access user-friendly format on Sept. 16, 2021. This information will be easily accessible on the Census Bureau’s website with no additional steps or expertise needed to access the data.
In Alabama, the Legislature initiates and completes the redistricting process after every decennial census is taken. The Legislature’s Reapportionment Committee leads the effort with the assistance of the Legislative Reapportionment Office. Because the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is not directly involved in the reapportionment process, the agency will not extract or interpret the data released on Aug. 12.
The Alabama Legislative Reapportionment Office is holding a series of public meetings about redistricting in September. Redistricting is when state officials redraw the boundaries of the congressional and state legislative districts in their states. Click here for the locations, date, time, and virtual meeting links. All meetings are open to the public.
Links to helpful resources:
A simple interactive map of 2020 Census population totals by state, city or county is available here. To locate the total for a particular area, type in the city, county or state name in the search box on the left side. Please note that only cities or areas with a population of 5,000 or above are included in this map.
For anyone wishing to download the data, the files can be found at the Census Bureau’s Redistricting Data Program webpage: www.census.gov/rdo