WASHINGTON, May 22 (UPI) -- The population was overcounted by about 36,000 in 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau said Tuesday.
Demographers said about 85 percent of the overcount came from duplicate census forms being sent in. The remainder was a result of people who died before April 1, 2010, the Census Day, or were born after that date being included in the count or from fictitious census forms.
The bureau conducts a post-census survey to get an estimate of its accuracy. It says the 2010 overcount was 0.01 percent, compared to a 0.49 percent overcount in 2000 and a 1.61 percent undercount in 1990.
"On this one evaluation -- the net undercount of the total population -- this was an outstanding census," Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said. "When this fact is added to prior positive evaluations, the American public can be proud of the 2010 Census their participation made possible."
The number of blacks was undercounted by 2.1 percent, the Census Bureau said, and the number of Hispanics by 1.5 percent. In 2000, blacks were undercounted by 1.8 percent and Hispanics by 0.7 percent.
