WASHINGTON -- As 1982 arrived in the United States, the Census Bureau estimated the nation's population at 230.5 million, 4 million more than the 1980 census counted and almost 2.2 million more than when 1981 began.
Demographers at the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said Thursday the New Year's Day estimate of 230,510,607 is a 1.8 percent increase over the April 1980 census finding of 226,504,825.
The past year began with a population of 228,339,000, and 1980 began with the nation's population at 225,938,000, said the bureau.
The population increased about 1 percent in both 1980 and 1981 in contrast to growth of 1.5 percent to 2 percent during the baby boom years of 1947 to 1961. The one-year net population record is 3.2 million, recorded in 1954 when the nation's population was 162 million.
Census bureau officials said the 1982 population figure is based on an estimate of 3.6 million births, 2 million deaths and net migration of 504,000 in 1981.
The 1982 estimate includes residents of the 50 stattes and the District of Columbia. It does not include members of the armed forces and other federal employees and their dependents stationed abroad.
adv 12:01 a.m.
