The Population Estimates Program publishes total population estimates each year. The publication of net population estimates also includes demographic components of change (births, deaths, and migration). Later in the year, we publish the estimates by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. The reference date for county estimates is July 1.
Estimates usually are for the present and the past, while projections are estimates of the population for future dates. We develop these estimates with the assistance of the Federal State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE).
These estimates are used in federal funding allocations, as denominators for vital rates and per capita time series, as survey controls, and in monitoring recent demographic changes. With each new issue of July 1 estimates, we revise estimates for years back to the last census. Previously published estimates are superseded and archived.