Steven Ruggles
@stevenruggles.bsky.social
Historical demographer and data impresario
Wired profile: https://www.wired.com/1995/03/ruggles/
Publications: https://users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/
Data: https://www.ipums.org/
Wired profile: https://www.wired.com/1995/03/ruggles/
Publications: https://users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/
Data: https://www.ipums.org/
Pinned
Steven Ruggles
@stevenruggles.bsky.social
· Feb 16
Our paper on the politics of Census Bureau technology argues that Clinton's radical downsizing of the federal workforce led to a loss of expertise that had taken decades to build, massive outsourcing to the private sector, and an explosion of costs.
academic.oup.com/jah/article/...
academic.oup.com/jah/article/...
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
It’s -9 degrees. Downtown Minneapolis is packed for the anti-ICE rally and the crowd keeps growing
January 23, 2026 at 8:16 PM
It’s -9 degrees. Downtown Minneapolis is packed for the anti-ICE rally and the crowd keeps growing
Trump just said the US population was 315 million, "counting all the illegals."
Demography is not his strong suit.
Demography is not his strong suit.
January 20, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Trump just said the US population was 315 million, "counting all the illegals."
Demography is not his strong suit.
Demography is not his strong suit.
Minneapolis is colder than Nuuk in January.
January 17, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Minneapolis is colder than Nuuk in January.
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
Its not that the media is not covering what is happening, but it does feel like the military occupation of an American city should be treated as a national crisis.
A video of ICE agents conducting door-to-door searches today in Minneapolis
The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway
They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming
The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway
They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming
January 12, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Its not that the media is not covering what is happening, but it does feel like the military occupation of an American city should be treated as a national crisis.
Here is the percentage of white males age 30-39 working in professional, technical, and managerial jobs between 1850 and 2024. The current generation has not been squeezed out of such jobs. If there is any lost generation here, I would say it is boomers who were 30-39 in 1990. (@ipums.bsky.social)
December 18, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Here is the percentage of white males age 30-39 working in professional, technical, and managerial jobs between 1850 and 2024. The current generation has not been squeezed out of such jobs. If there is any lost generation here, I would say it is boomers who were 30-39 in 1990. (@ipums.bsky.social)
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
This is amazing. If you haven't reveled in the glory that is the IPUMS international census archive, you should! Here's something I made from it: "The Rise of One-Person Households" journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
December 1, 2025 at 3:14 PM
This is amazing. If you haven't reveled in the glory that is the IPUMS international census archive, you should! Here's something I made from it: "The Rise of One-Person Households" journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
An X user asks Elon Musk why they’re seeing tweets from left-wing lawmakers.
Musk: “Because we are failing very badly with the recommendations algorithm. Doing my best to address this.”
Musk: “Because we are failing very badly with the recommendations algorithm. Doing my best to address this.”
November 21, 2025 at 12:34 AM
An X user asks Elon Musk why they’re seeing tweets from left-wing lawmakers.
Musk: “Because we are failing very badly with the recommendations algorithm. Doing my best to address this.”
Musk: “Because we are failing very badly with the recommendations algorithm. Doing my best to address this.”
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
When Canada tried this is was a data disaster for large swaths of the country
November 18, 2025 at 10:32 PM
When Canada tried this is was a data disaster for large swaths of the country
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
A perpetual mood:
November 18, 2025 at 3:01 PM
A perpetual mood:
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
Federal agents wearing tactical gear used chemical irritants on protesters at the Bro-Tex facility in St. Paul.
Video by reporter Louis Krauss, who is on the scene.
Video by reporter Louis Krauss, who is on the scene.
November 18, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Federal agents wearing tactical gear used chemical irritants on protesters at the Bro-Tex facility in St. Paul.
Video by reporter Louis Krauss, who is on the scene.
Video by reporter Louis Krauss, who is on the scene.
Very sad.
Mrs. R. C. Biorn (1943)
3546 Humboldt Ave. N
Source: Hennepin County Library
Biorn receives a rosebush sent from her son, Lieutenant Robert, an army pilot, for Mother's Day. The gift came just one hour after she had received a telegram from the war department announcing his death. See P58974.
3546 Humboldt Ave. N
Source: Hennepin County Library
Biorn receives a rosebush sent from her son, Lieutenant Robert, an army pilot, for Mother's Day. The gift came just one hour after she had received a telegram from the war department announcing his death. See P58974.
November 15, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Very sad.
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
If you haven't joined your local AAUP, now is a great time to do so.
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:51 AM
If you haven't joined your local AAUP, now is a great time to do so.
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
The officer Sandwich Guy is charged with assaulting testifies that he could feel the impact of the sandwich through his ballistic vest, and it “exploded all over my uniform.” He says he could “smell the onions and the mustard.”
November 4, 2025 at 3:34 PM
The officer Sandwich Guy is charged with assaulting testifies that he could feel the impact of the sandwich through his ballistic vest, and it “exploded all over my uniform.” He says he could “smell the onions and the mustard.”
Shoutout to the "yeoman data drovers at @IPUMS":
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Column | The biggest careers that have now vanished, according to data
The Department of Data started spelunking through archaic occupations in search of disappearing jobs — but it turns out the best answer is more obvious than you think.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Shoutout to the "yeoman data drovers at @IPUMS":
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
It was raining and cold.
November 3, 2025 at 1:50 AM
It was raining and cold.
More good optics. What a genius!
Per Danny Kemp via press pool
Trump is at the Halloween party at MAL
“Official theme is Gatsby and ‘a little party never killed nobody’, we’re told.”
Trump is at the Halloween party at MAL
“Official theme is Gatsby and ‘a little party never killed nobody’, we’re told.”
November 1, 2025 at 3:29 AM
More good optics. What a genius!
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
Pleased to be part of the history making "IPUMS USA Full Count Census Data" special issue in Historical Methods 58(4). @ipums.bsky.social @stevenruggles.bsky.social @mattanelson.bsky.social @juliariveradrew.bsky.social @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/toc/vhim20/5...
Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History
IPUMS USA Full Count Census Data Collection. Volume 58, Issue 4 of Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History
www.tandfonline.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Pleased to be part of the history making "IPUMS USA Full Count Census Data" special issue in Historical Methods 58(4). @ipums.bsky.social @stevenruggles.bsky.social @mattanelson.bsky.social @juliariveradrew.bsky.social @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/toc/vhim20/5...
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
The NY Times and WaPo may be lost causes but holy shite look at PEOPLE out here absolutely killing it with 100% unvarnished truths 🌟
October 28, 2025 at 1:09 AM
The NY Times and WaPo may be lost causes but holy shite look at PEOPLE out here absolutely killing it with 100% unvarnished truths 🌟
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
There is no difference between Trump destroying the East Wing and using a wrecking ball on the Washington Monument or Smithsonian. Just because he (temporarily) lives there doesn't give him the right to demolish the White House without Congressional approval.
a live look at the demolition of the White House's East Wing for Trump's ballroom
October 22, 2025 at 7:12 PM
There is no difference between Trump destroying the East Wing and using a wrecking ball on the Washington Monument or Smithsonian. Just because he (temporarily) lives there doesn't give him the right to demolish the White House without Congressional approval.
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
the president has destroyed the east wing of the white house without so much as a word of input from anyone else to build a royal ballroom paid for with bribes
NEW: After The Washington Post reported Monday on the demolition of the "East Wing facade," a new picture obtained by Law Dork that was taken on Tuesday shows that a substantial portion of the entirety of the East Wing has been demolished.
October 21, 2025 at 8:27 PM
the president has destroyed the east wing of the white house without so much as a word of input from anyone else to build a royal ballroom paid for with bribes
Reposted by Steven Ruggles
This. Is. So. Freaking. Good.
I'll leave you from Portland with one last video of the @unpresidentedbrass.bsky.social, the unofficial house band of #NoKings
October 19, 2025 at 1:43 AM
This. Is. So. Freaking. Good.