Census Bureau Gives ‘98 Population Data

Partygoers feeling a little crowded on New Year’s Eve may have good reason: As of Jan. 1, 1998, the Census Bureau projects there will be 268,921,733 people living in the United States.

That’s a 2.4 million increase from the previous year.

The Census Bureau based its 1998 population projection on the number of births (3.9 million), deaths (2.3 million), and number of people returning or immigrating to the United States (867,600) during the past year.

The calculations represent an 8.1 percent increase from an April 1990 census.

Census Bureau analyst Lisa Kuzmeskus reports that the level of births has been declining in the U.S. since 1990, but the number of deaths increased in the past year.

The bureau predicts the country’s population will grow by 2.3 million in the next year.

The population projections do not include U.S. citizens living abroad.