2010 Census Overview
The 2010 Census, or Decennial Census, collected data from all U.S. households on:
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It did not collect data on socioeconomic, occupational, or educational topics previously gathered from the Census Long Form; for this see the American Community Survey.
The Decennial Census provides the greatest level of geographic detail, down to the census block level.
Census 2010 data is available to the public in the form of tables, which are grouped into collections called summary files. For example, Summary File 1 Table P1 is the table of total population.
Further Reading
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Data Products Release ScheduleThe Decennial Census is released in a number of data sets over several years. Summary File 1 (SF1) is probably the most frequently used.
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Overview of Race and Hispanic OriginExplains racial and ethnic categories
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Housing Characteristics: 2010Explains housing tenure and vacancy.
Access 2010 Data
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Social ExplorerEasy to access maps and tables from 1790-2010 census, plus American Community Survey through 2015. Downloadable in Excel, CSV, SPSS, SAS, and Stata file formats.
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Data.census.gov (aka Explore Census Data)The US Census Bureau's primary delivery platform - a free data site - for the American Community Survey, the most recent Decennial Census, and other Census Bureau data releases.
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Census FTPUseful for downloading data at all geographic levels for an entire state, which can be cumbersome through AFF. Requires MS Access or statistical software; for advanced users only.
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Census.IRE.OrgFrom Investigative Reporters and Editors, the same Census 2010 data as AFF at tract, place, county, county subdivision, state, or national levels in a no-frills interface. Downloadable as CSV or JSON.