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4 Million North Carolinians Still Need to Respond to the 2020 Census by September 30 Deadline

As of July 31, approximately 4 million North Carolinians still need to respond to the census or North Carolina risks losing out on an estimated $7.4 billion in funding each year. NC’s current Census 2020 response rate is below the national rate and below where our state was in 2010. North Carolina communities that have not responded at high rates are predominantly rural, Black, and Brown, with low internet access.

Carolina Demography has prepared a detailed look at the current 2020 Census response in NC. This is published under a Creative Commons license. You can see that information here: https://www.ncdemography.org/2020/08/06/ncs-current-2020-census-response-is-concerning/

Carolina Demography that they are very concerned  about the Census Bureau’s decision to end operations early. Very few North Carolina counties have exceeded their historical self-response rates from 2000 or 2010. This breaks the trend for many counties, where each Census year from 1990 to 2010 had a higher final self-response rate than the previous one.

Other key points:

  • The gap between the top-responding county and bottom-responding county is over 40 percentage points. 70.5% of households responded in Union County, the highest-ranked county in North Carolina, compared to 29.3% of households in Avery County, ranked 100th. This represents a gap of 41.2 percentage points in total.
  • As internet access decreases, so do self-response rates. In this target group, internet access has been consistently correlated with self-response rates. As the share of households without internet increases, the average self-response rate decreases for every category. There is currently a 16.6 percentage point gap between households with the highest access (less than 12% of households lack access) and households with the lowest access (31% or more households lack internet access).

Here’s how to help increase the count

  • Make sure you have completed the 2020 Census. You can respond to the Census online at My2020Census.gov, over the phone by calling  844-330-2020, or through the paper questionnaire received in the mail. 
  • Ask your friends and family members if they have completed the 2020 Census.
  • Send a note to your neighborhood listserv, NextDoor community, or Facebook group.
  • Ask your religious institutions, schools, librarians and other community facilities if they can remind people to fill out the 2020 Census using their displays, mailing lists, and communications.
  • Forward this email to community leaders, your neighborhood, and your friends.
  • Share the PDF about the importance of the Census for NC’s residents

Watauga County: Census 2020 Real-Time Response Rates – Week Ending Aug 2

How is Watauga County performing?

41.1% of households in Watauga County have self-responded to the 2020 Census between March 12 and Aug 2, 2020, below the state response rate of 59.0%. Watauga County is currently ranked 92 out of 100 counties in NC. How are people responding to the 2020 Census in Watauga County? 35.8% of Watauga households responded to the census online versus 46.1% of all NC households. 5.3% of Watauga households responded to the census by phone or mail versus 12.9% of all NC households. Where are people responding in Watauga County? (Top 5 Tracts)

How many households in Watauga County self-responded in past census counts? Historic census self-response rates for Watauga County were 55.0% in 1990, 54.0% in 2000, and 52.8% in 2010.

How are target groups responding in Watauga County?

 

North Carolina: Census 2020 Real-Time Response Rates – Week Ending Aug 2

Overall Self-Response Rates in NC 59.0% of households in NC have self-responded to the 2020 Census between March 12 and Aug 2, 2020. The top performing state is Minnesota (72.2%). North Carolina is currently ranked 35 out of 50 states and D.C. for self-response rate. Nationally, 62.8% of households have self-responded to the census. How are people responding to the 2020 Census in North Carolina? 46.1% of NC households responded to the census online versus 50.2% of households nationwide. 12.9% of NC households responded to the census by phone or mail versus 12.6% of households nationwide.