Legislative Districts 2010 Census Statistics

Note: this post corrects for a Nevada data error pointed out by a helpful reader.

We've posted selected 2010 census statistics for all the current (pre-redistricted) congressional and state legislative districts in the country. You can obtain the reports for any individual state by following the state links at http://www.publicmapping.org/resources/state-resources and then following the "Current Districts" link.

Highlights

The average district is overpopulated by 0.06% from the ideal population for its legislative chamber. The average African-American majority VAP district is under-populated by 12.21% and the average Latino majority VAP district is under-populated by 3.2%. The African-American statistics conform with the population estimates leading into the 2010 census, but under-population of the Latino districts comes as a bit of a surprise given that the community is the fastest growing in the country. What this tells us is that the Latino community growth is not in the existing communities. Demographers that I have spoken with attribute the decline in the African-American communities to two factors: children leaving home and gentrification. In all, these statistics may indicate that at least in terms of representation, constituencies are becoming a more racially heterogeneous.  

Biggest Losers

The most under-populated districts are in the Katrina ravaged parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. The top five from most under-populated to least are:

Biggest Gainers

Smallest and Biggest Overall

The smallest population district is New Hapshire State House District 3, Coos with a total population of 3,233.

The largest population district is California State Senate District 37 with a total population of 1,215,876.

A spreadsheet of these statistics is available here. If you use these data, please site them as Michael McDonald. 2011. "Legislative Districts' 2010 Census Statistics." Public Mapping Project. http://www.publicmapping.org.