United States. Bureau of the Census

Created to carry out the national census required by the U.S. Constitution, the Bureau of the Census grew from a once-a-decade population count into one of the federal government's main statistical agencies. Today, as the U.S. Census Bureau, it gathers and publishes data on the nation's people, housing, and economy.

Its work reaches far beyond the decennial census. The bureau also produces many of the figures used by researchers, journalists, businesses, and policymakers to understand how the country is changing, including data from ongoing surveys and economic reports.

For readers, works credited to "United States. Bureau of the Census" offer a snapshot of the nation at a particular moment in time. They are useful not because they tell a personal story, but because they preserve the numbers and patterns that help explain American life.