The U.S. Census Bureau is asking residents to complete the 2020 Census questionnaire if they have not done so already.
Though April 1, designated as Census Day, has passed, many households throughout Leflore County have yet to respond to the survey, according to Marilyn Stephens, an assistant regional census manager for the 2020 Census for the Atlanta Region.
As of Wednesday, Leflore County’s self-response rate for the census was 50.1%, Stephens said. Out of that number, 28.7% of households completed the census online. The rest responded to the census either by mail or by phone.
“That’s really good, though — half of the households in Leflore County. And the question is, are you in that number?” Stephens asked.
Mississippi’s self-response rate was 52.8%; the nation’s was 57.3%.
The census, as mandated by the Constitution, is carried out each decade in order to count the country’s population. Its numbers are used in redrawing legislative districts and determining how federal funds are allocated at the state and municipal levels.
The census asks 10 questions about those living in a household as of April 1. The answers are kept confidential.
Each year the federal government distributes more than $675 billion in funds for programs and services such as the Women, Infants and Children program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, programs for the elderly and also highway planning, Stephens said. “All the things that are important to our well-being, they’re tied up to these population statistics,” she said.
Leflore County’s self-response rate for the 2010 Census was 52.7%, making it a “hard-to-count” area, according to the Census Bureau. The state’s response rate in 2010 was 61.3%, and the nation’s was 66.5%.
Over 265,000 Mississippians were not counted in the 2010 Census, and for every Mississippian not counted this year, the state will be shortchanged $50,000 over 10 years, Gov. Tate Reeves said in an open letter published on the Mississippi Census 2020’s website.
In previous count cycles, some parents left their children off the questionnaire, Stephens said.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Census Bureau halted its operations in which representatives hand-delivered the questionnaires to residents with P.O. Box addresses. Those operations have resumed, Stephens said.
By July Census Bureau officials will approach households that have not responded. Stephens said she hopes the number of non-respondents will be low since there are three ways to complete the questionnaire.
• Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
