Editing United States Census Bureau (section)

=== Census regions and divisions ===
The United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/us_regdiv.pdf|access-date=February 3, 2016|author=United States Census Bureau, Geography Division|title=Census Regions and Divisions of the United States|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20130107113900/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/us_regdiv.pdf|archive-date=January 7, 2013}}</ref> The Census Bureau regions are {{qi|widely used...for data collection and analysis}}.<ref name=NEMS>"The National Energy Modeling System: An Overview 2003" (Report #:DOE/EIA-0581, October 2009). United States Department of Energy, [[Energy Information Administration]].</ref> The Census Bureau definition is pervasive.<ref>"The most widely used regional definitions follow those of the U.S. Bureau of the Census." Seymour Sudman and Norman M. Bradburn, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8Ay2AAAAIAAJ Asking Questions: A Practical Guide to Questionnaire Design] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515042215/https://books.google.com/books?id=8Ay2AAAAIAAJ |date=May 15, 2016 }}'' (1982). [[Jossey-Bass]]: p. 205.</ref><ref>"Perhaps the most widely used regional classification system is one developed by the U.S. Census Bureau." Dale M. Lewison, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=oPUJAQAAMAAJ Retailing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521063523/https://books.google.com/books?id=oPUJAQAAMAAJ&dq=ISBN9780134614274 |date=May 21, 2016 }}'', [[Prentice Hall]] (1997): p. 384. {{ISBN|978-0-13-461427-4}}</ref><ref>"(M)ost demographic and food consumption data are presented in this four-region format." Pamela Goyan Kittler, Kathryn P. Sucher, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=eKdbaMY5AHEC&pg=PA475 Food and Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204040905/https://books.google.com/books?id=eKdbaMY5AHEC&lpg=PA475&pg=PA475 |date=December 4, 2016 }}'', [[Cengage Learning]] (2008): p. 475. {{ISBN|978-0495115410}}</ref> The [[Territories of the United States|territories]] are not included, but the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]] is.

Regional divisions used by the United States Census Bureau:<ref name="census">{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf|title=Census Bureau Regions and Divisions with State FIPS Codes|publisher=US Census Bureau|access-date=February 3, 2016|archive-date=December 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219134403/https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/technical-documentation/complete-tech-docs/summary-file/2020Census_PL94_171Redistricting_NationalTechDoc.pdf |title=2020 Census National Redistricting Data Summary File |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=August 18, 2021 |pages=88–89 |date=February 2021 |archive-date=June 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627200415/https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/technical-documentation/complete-tech-docs/summary-file/2020Census_PL94_171Redistricting_NationalTechDoc.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;"
|+ U.S. Census Bureau Regional Divisions
|-
! Region !! Division !! States
|-
! rowspan="2" style="background:#ADD8E6;" | [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]]
| [[New England]]
| {{flag|Connecticut}}<br>{{flag|Maine}}<br>{{flag|Massachusetts}}<br>{{flag|New Hampshire}}<br>{{flag|Rhode Island}}<br>{{flag|Vermont}}
|-
| [[Mid-Atlantic States|Mid-Atlantic]]
| {{flag|New Jersey}}<br>{{flag|New York}}<br>{{flag|Pennsylvania}}
|-
! rowspan="2" style="background:#90EE90;" | [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]]
| [[East North Central States|East North Central]]
| {{flag|Illinois}}<br>{{flag|Indiana}}<br>{{flag|Michigan}}<br>{{flag|Ohio}}<br>{{flag|Wisconsin}}
|-
| [[West North Central States|West North Central]]
| {{flag|Iowa}}<br>{{flag|Kansas}}<br>{{flag|Minnesota}}<br>{{flag|Missouri}}<br>{{flag|Nebraska}}<br>{{flag|North Dakota}}<br>{{flag|South Dakota}}
|-
! rowspan="3" style="background:#FFB6C1;" | [[Southern United States|South]]
| [[South Atlantic States|South Atlantic]]
| {{flag|Delaware}}<br>{{flag|District of Columbia}}<br>{{flag|Florida}}<br>[[File:Flag of Georgia (U.S. state).svg|23px|border]] [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]<br>{{flag|Maryland}}<br>{{flag|North Carolina}}<br>{{flag|South Carolina}}<br>{{flag|Virginia}}<br>{{flag|West Virginia}}
|-
| [[East South Central States|East South Central]]
| {{flag|Alabama}}<br>{{flag|Kentucky}}<br>{{flag|Mississippi}}<br>{{flag|Tennessee}}
|-
| [[West South Central States|West South Central]]
| {{flag|Arkansas}}<br>{{flag|Louisiana}}<br>{{flag|Oklahoma}}<br>{{flag|Texas}}
|-
! rowspan="2" style="background:#FFDAB9;" | [[Western United States|West]]
| [[Mountain States|Mountain]]
| {{flag|Arizona}}<br>{{flag|Colorado}}<br>{{flag|Idaho}}<br>{{flag|Montana}}<br>{{flag|Nevada}}<br>{{flag|New Mexico}}<br>{{flag|Utah}}<br>{{flag|Wyoming}}
|-
| [[Pacific States|Pacific]]
| {{flag|Alaska}}<br>{{flag|California}}<br>{{flag|Hawaii}}<br>{{flag|Oregon}}<br>{{flag|Washington}}
|-
|}


==== History ====
The first census was collected in 1790 and published in 1791.<ref name=":1" /> It was 56 pages and cost $44,377.28.<ref name=":1" />

The current system was introduced for the 1910 census, but other ways of grouping states were used historically by the Census Bureau. The first of these was introduced after the 1850 census by statistician and later census superintendent [[J. D. B. De Bow]]. He published a compendium where the states and territories were grouped into five "great divisions", namely the Middle, New England, the Northwestern, the Southern, and the Southwestern great divisions. Unsatisfied with this system, De Bow devised another one four years later, with states and territories grouped into an Eastern, Interior, and Western "great section", each divided into a northern and southern half called "divisions".

In the following decades, several other systems were used, until the current one was introduced in 1910. This system has seen only minor changes: New Mexico and Arizona were both added to the Mountain division upon statehood in 1912, the North region was divided into a Northeast and a North Central region in 1940, Alaska and Hawaii were both added to the Pacific division upon statehood in 1959, and the North Central region was renamed the Midwest in 1984.<ref>[https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch6GARM.pdf Statistical Groupings of States and Counties] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129035331/https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch6GARM.pdf |date=January 29, 2022 }} (PDF)</ref>