1.) 50 million -- The big number from the Census everyone was talking about was the number of Hispanics, which crested this milestone for the first time. Later the Census and The New York Times found that even more people in the US (51 million) are at or near the poverty line.
2.) 50% +1 -- Some time in 2011 the children being born in the US tipped to majority-minority, according to Brookings Institute demographer William Frey. It'll take the population as a whole, decades before the white population is not the majority, but the newborns are there now. Diversity marketing is in for a makeover.
3.) Half of kids under 8 (and 40% of 2- to 4-year-olds) have access to a smartphone, iPad, or some other mobile media device.
4.) In October 2011 Facebookers in the US spent 136,000 aggregate years on the site, according to comScore.
5.) The US added just 11.2 million households between 2000 and 2010, the -- slowest household formation rate we've seen in a long time. This impacts industries like construction and any sort of household goods and services and is helping to keep the recovery slow.
6.) When asked all the reasons they subscribe to a local paper, 85% said local news, but nearly 4 in 10 said “habit,” according to the Ad Age/Ipsos Observer American Consumer Survey.
7.) Nuclear families account for just one-fifth of all households but more than one-third (34%) of total consumer spending. Nationwide there are 1.3 million fewer of them in 2010 than there were in 2000.
8.) One in three consumers can't afford your product: The 2011 Discretionary Spend Report from Experian Simmons finds 34.5% of households have less than $7,000 to spend on non-essential goods. Just over half have less than $10,000 to spend on entertainment, education, personal care, clothing, furniture and more.
9.) Don't count out old media. Fifty-seven percent of millennials indicated in a study from OMD that TV was the first way they hear about products and services.
10.) For the first time in American history there are now a million more female than male college graduates, according to the Census.