It is now five and a half years since the last major census of population in the United States, the 1960 decennial census, provided a composite picture of the Nation's people—their geographic distribution and their social and economic characteristics. In the postcensal years, the population not only is growing rapidly but also is changing its places and patterns of living. Some parts of the country are experiencing major increases in population while others are at a standstill. The farm population is dwindling as families move to metropolitan areas. Residents of the central cities have continued to move to the suburbs. Levels of education and income are rising, and working habits and occupational attachments are changing. Evolving State and Federal programs to meet the country's rising social problems are focusing attention on special groups of the population and thereby increasing the need for up-to-date information.

Since 1960, the Bureau of the Census, by means of estimates and sample surveys, has provided information on some of the broad aspects of population change and growth. Included in its current program are estimates of the population of the United States, the 50 States and District of Columbia, the largest metropolitan areas, and selected outlying areas. Annual sample surveys have provided information on the characteristics of the population relating to local mobility and internal migration, size of school and college enrollment, levels of education, marital and family status, household formation and composition, childbearing, and family and personal income. Monthly statistics collected by the Bureau of the Census for the Department of Labor have provided information on the size and characteristics of the labor force, its occupational distribution, and the extent of unemployment.

It is the purpose of this report to bring together within the covers of a single publication the most significant facts presented in the various series of current population reports. Thus, its aim is to portray in summary terms, the population of the United States at mid-decade.

Information is presented here for the Nation as a whole, with cross-classifications by age, color, sex, and residence. Limited statistics on some subjects are shown for regions. Data for States and the 38 largest metropolitan areas are limited to estimates of total population. Conspicuously lacking are data for small areas—the Nation's more than 3,000 counties, 5,000 urban places, and 23,000 census tracts, for which data on a wide range of subjects were presented in the reports of the 1960 census. Updating information for these small areas and collection of data in greater detail for States, metropolitan areas, and the Nation as a whole cannot be accomplished through the present limited program of sample surveys and intercensal estimates.