U.S. Census 2010

Ok my friends, I didn't minor in Sociology for nothing in college.  I have to say that the recent announcement that there are over 308 million people in the U.S. is pretty astounding to me.  After all, I did take a class at the university, that I graduated from, called "Population" in 1990 that discussed the sociological aspect of this issue.  Below is U.S. Population information for the past 200 years:

(All numbers are rounded estimates)
Source: U.S. Census and Wikipedia

I took a class in high school called "Environmental Studies" that indicated the number one environmental problem in the world was over population.  When I look up the number one environmental problems these days, I find that overpopulation is number two and apathy is number one.  These environmental problems are well ahead of endangered species, water and air quality, and deforestation.  You can certainly find other rankings but population is usually number one, apathy really being an integral part of the human factor.

Another interesting tidbit that I found is that California has the most people of any state as of 2010.  The state has 37.2 million residents.  Despite the down economy and state budget really hurting for money, the population increased by 10% since 2000.  I guess my Mom is right when she says that it is probably a good thing when people say that they are leaving the state for a job or better economy.  The state is already pretty crowded.

I mention the 2010 U.S. Census here under my genealogy because I do find the high level information interesting.  Know that the U.S. has a 72 year rule before the census information becomes public.  This is done for privacy reasons.   I can't wait until the 1940 U.S. Census becomes available in 2012!