Our Census Bureau is understaffed and underfunded—the quality of its data is suffering
Last month, the Census Bureau released its annual data for 2024. This data includes indicators like income and poverty rates, all of which influence important decisions on government policy. Since our first research brief, Hawaiʻi Appleseed has relied on census data to assess the wellbeing of Hawaiʻi’s residents. In order to craft effective policies for local residents, we need census data that is accurate and unbiased.
The 2024 census data for Hawaiʻi doesn’t reveal anything groundbreaking. The poverty rate for the state increased slightly from 10.1 percent to 10.4 percent—confirmation that the cost of living is still too high for most families. However, there is an equally important story that has largely escaped media attention: the future of the Census Bureau itself could be in question.
Early into 2025, the Census Bureau lost many experienced employees, taking with them a wealth of expertise that cannot be easily replaced. In September, the Trump Administration appointed George Cook as the director of the Census Bureau. Unlike the directors before him, Cook does not have direct experience working on the census, and he will have to balance his new role with another position at the Department of Commerce.
These staffing changes come at a troubling time for the Census Bureau. The 2020 census had data collection issues that resulted in significant under- or over-counting for several populations. This impacts all U.S. residents because census data plays a role in deciding how much federal money states should receive for programs like Medicaid, SNAP and Section 8. In addition, it determines how seats in the House of Representatives are distributed across the states.
On top of these concerns, the Census Bureau is already severely underfunded, and more cuts appear to be on the way. For example, the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is a major census survey that collects data on the financial security of people living in the U.S., especially those who are in government programs. The SIPP gathers month-to-month data on incomes and tracks how people move in and out of different programs. In summary, it paints a detailed picture of families’ needs and how they are affected by policies.
Both the President’s 2026 budget and a House appropriations bill propose cutting $40 million from the part of the Census Bureau budget that funds SIPP. These cuts would force the Census Bureau to use a scaled-back version of the SIPP, producing far less accurate data.
With the 2030 decennial census on the horizon, we must ensure that the Census Bureau has the resources required to collect accurate data. Without adequate funding and staffing, we run the risk of having unreliable census data, leading to poorly informed decisions at every level of the government.
