The U.S. Bureau of the Census is organized into regional offices which, in turn, work with a network of State Data Centers. The State Data Centers are established by contract with the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and although no funds are provided to the states, census publications, cd's, dvd's, maps, and other materials are provided in return for the state's agreement to serve as a census information and training resource.

State Data Centers exist in all 50 states. In Wisconsin, the State Data Center is composed of two organizations: Demographic Services Center in the Department of Administration (Lead Agency) and the Applied Population Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Coordinating Agency). The two organizations provide census data technical support to a network of 40 affiliates, other governmental agencies, and the general public. The affiliate network includes county and regional planning commissions, public libraries and university libraries.