By now you’ve had mailers sent to you, ads on radio and TV targeting you, and door to door solicitations. If you haven’t turned in your Census form masked workers will likely be making their way to your home next. Based on the news reporting on this topic, you’d likely be led to think the response rate has been low and they’ll be dire consequences to your community if response rates aren’t dramatically improved. Yet again, the notion that Census response rates are especially low due to the pandemic, is little more than narrative. The final Census response rate from the prior two Census surveys looked like this:
2000:
- US: 67.4%
- Florida: 63%
2010:
- US: 66.5%
- Florida: 63%
So where are we with five months left in the year?
2020 thru July:
- US:63%
- Florida:60%
With 42% of the year left, response rates are only about 3% below the typical response rate for the entire year. We’re clearly pacing well despite the pandemic and will likely exceed the response rates of the previous two Census surveys at a minimum. I do encourage everyone to participate in the survey, it is a Constitutionally important process for determining representation in Congress and the Electoral College. I do also wish news reporting on the subject included context but then again, this topic is the least of my concerns in that regard.
Photo by: Getty Images