← All sources Research / economic / workforce
US CensusU.S. Census Bureau — State Population Estimates (2024 vintage)
U.S. Census Bureau · Tier-1 · research-only (never on individual profiles)
U.S. Census Bureau state population estimates (2024 vintage) are the canonical denominator for per-capita statistics across federal data. Used as the reference population for per-100k provider density calculations in our research.
How this source shows up on Fonteum.
Per-capita denominators in research studies (e.g. 'X dermatologists per 100,000 residents'). Tier-1 — appears in study tables and methodology, never on individual provider profiles.
What this source does NOT mean
Census state populations are demographic counts, not a measurement of healthcare access or service quality. A state with 1.75 dermatologists per 100k is not categorically 'better' than one with 0.40; the per-capita figure is a supply signal, not a quality signal.
Research and data questions this source supports.
- Compute per-100,000-population provider density by state using Census PEP V2025 denominators and NPPES provider counts as numerators.
- Power a health equity study that expresses HPSA shortage designations as provider shortfall per 100k residents by state.
- Normalize nursing home deficiency counts (from CMS NH Deficiencies data) to per-100k-population rates for cross-state comparison.
- Support a healthcare market size calculation that combines Census state population with BEA personal income data.
- Build a congressional-district-level provider access map using Census population estimates as the denominator.
Dataset size: Annual estimates for 51 states + DC + ~3,100 counties
What we can’t infer from this source.
- Population vintage matters; 2024 estimates are mid-year point-in-time projections from the 2020 decennial.
- Sub-state geographies (county / city) require Census Bureau Population Estimates Program separately.
- Tier-1 — never rendered on individual provider profiles.
Authority, license, refresh cadence.
Authority
U.S. Census Bureau
Tier
Tier-1 · research-only (never on individual profiles)
Refresh cadence
Annual — Census publishes state-population estimates each year for the most recent vintage.
License
U.S. government public-domain data. Free to use with attribution.
Attribution requirement
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, State Population Estimates · Vintage {YYYY}
What the source allows.
U.S. government public-domain works. Census publishes population estimates as bulk CSV. Redistribution permitted with attribution; please cite the vintage year. Fonteum uses state-level estimates as denominators in per-capita research.
What a single field looks like in the graph.
A worked example. Every field surfaced from this source carries this shape of provenance line — source · last checked · display rule · confidence (when applicable).
Field
State population (per-capita denominator, research-only)
Sample value
California: 39,431,263 (2024 vintage)
Provenance line
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, State Population Estimates · 2024 vintage · Display rule: research-only — appears in study tables and methodology
Official API, bulk download, and Fonteum endpoints.
Official API / download
Fonteum surface
Common questions about US Census.
- What is the Census Population Estimates Program (PEP) and which vintage does Fonteum use?
- The Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) produces annual resident population estimates for the nation, states, counties, and cities. PEP V2025 is the 2025 vintage — estimates anchored to the 2020 decennial census and extended forward with administrative data on births, deaths, and migration. Fonteum uses PEP V2025 to provide per-100k-population denominators for healthcare access studies.
- Where can I download Census state population estimates?
- The Census Bureau publishes state population estimates at census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/data-sets.html. Vintage-year estimates are released each December for the prior year. All Census data is U.S. government public-domain — free to use with attribution.
- Why does Fonteum use population estimates rather than decennial census counts?
- Decennial census counts are only available every 10 years and become stale quickly for rapidly growing or shrinking states. Population estimates are updated annually and are more accurate for current-year rate calculations. Fonteum uses the most recent PEP vintage (V2025) anchored to the 2020 census as the standard denominator.
- What is the difference between Census PEP and the American Community Survey (ACS)?
- PEP provides annual total resident population counts by state — the number of people living there, suitable for per-capita denominators. ACS provides demographic, income, and housing survey data collected continuously and published in 1-year and 5-year estimates. PEP denominators are better for provider density calculations; ACS is better for demographic context and income distribution.
- Does Fonteum use county-level or state-level population estimates?
- Fonteum's research studies currently use state-level PEP V2025 estimates as the primary denominator. County-level denominators are used for HRSA HPSA and access-gap studies where geography is a key variable. County population estimates are available from the same PEP release on the Census Bureau's data API.
Where this source already shows up.
Research studies citing this source
Related sources in the graph
- /sources → The full source library — every dataset Fonteum cites.
- /data-provenance → The provider graph — pipeline diagram, source-family clusters, field-level provenance examples, display rules.
- /methodology → Network-wide sourcing, refresh cadence, and corrections policy.
- /editorial-policy → Independence, sourcing, conflicts, corrections, retractions.