The U.S. population for group quarters was 8,239,016 as of April 1, 2020. This was an increase of 3.2% over the 2010 Census group quarters population. Group quarters include such places as college residence halls, residential treatment centers, skilled-nursing facilities, group homes, military barracks, correctional facilities, and workers’ dormitories.

“In 2020, the group quarters population represented 2.5% of the total U.S. population, down from 2.6% in 2010,” said Steven Wilson, chief of the Population and Housing Programs Branch in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “We also saw that college and university student housing was the most populous group living arrangement at 2,792,097, up 10.7% since 2010.”

Group quarters highlights:

•  The second-largest group quarters population was correctional facilities for adults at 1,967,297, which decreased from the 2010 Census by 296,305 (13.1%).
• The state with the largest group quarters population was California at 917,932, with the largest share of that population counted at other noninstitutional group quarters.
•  The group quarters population in Puerto Rico decreased 1.2% since 2010 to 37,509.

Read more about these results in the America Counts story, 8.2 Million People Counted at U.S. Group Quarters in the 2020 Census. You can also access more statistics in the 2020 Census Demographic Data Map Application.  

All indications show the census results are in line with expectations.

“We are confident in the quality of today’s results,” said acting Census Bureau Director Ron Jarmin.

In keeping with our commitment to transparency, the Census Bureau will release additional operational quality metrics on August 18 and August 25, providing more detail on the conduct of specific operations.

The redistricting data are the first from the 2020 Census to use differential privacy, a mathematical method that applies carefully calibrated statistical noise to a dataset and allows a balance between privacy and accuracy. More information is available in 2020 Census Data Products: Disclosure Avoidance Modernization and Redistricting Data: What to Expect and When.

In addition to the redistricting data released today, the Census Bureau has released a set of demonstration data that illustrate the impact of the differential privacy production settings on published 2010 Census redistricting data. The Census Bureau released similar demonstration datasets over the course of the new method’s development. 

These data released today are in the same format that the 2000 and 2010 redistricting data were provided. The term “legacy” refers to its prior use. By September 30, we will release these same data to state officials with an easy-to-use toolkit of DVDs and flash drives and we will make it available to the public on data.census.gov. The Census Bureau will notify the public in September when it makes these same data available.

Data are available in the 2020 Census Demographic Data Map Application through different data visualizations and QuickFacts. Data files are also available on the Decennial Census P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data Summary Files page and includes the geographic support files, technical documentation and additional support materials needed to access these data.

The Census Bureau has also produced a variety of America Counts stories on population change and distribution, group quarters, the adult population, housing changes, housing vacancy, race and ethnicity and the diversity index. Videos are also available that explain how to access these data and what these data show about the changing nation.