Census data collection to continue through October

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SIDNEY – More than 96% of Americans, including 97.8% of Ohioans, have been counted as the U.S. Census Bureau prepares to enter the final month of data collection for the 2020 census.

As of Wednesday, 96.6% of American households had been accounted for in the 2020 census with 66.3% self responding and 30.3% being counted by census takers through a process known as nonresponse followup.

In Ohio, 97.8% of households have been accounted for in the 2020 census, which is tied with Illinois and Oregon for the 19th best rate in the nation.

The Buckeye State has a 70.2% self-response rate, with 54.2% responding online, while 27.6% of households have been accounted for through nonresponse followup.

West Virginia, at 99.9%, has the highest percentage of enumerated households in the nation while Alabama, 90.5%, has the lowest percentage.

At 70.2%, Ohio is tied with Connecticut for the 11th best self-response rate in the nation. Minnesota has the country’s best self-response rate at 74.7%.

Shelby County is tied with Hancock County for the 20th best self-response rate, 74.3%, among Ohio’s 88 counties.

Auglaize County has the seventh best self-response rate in Ohio at 77.4%, Miami County is ninth at 76.6%, Mercer County is 15th at 75.1%, Darke County is 22nd at 74%, Champaign County is 28th at 73%, and Logan County is 75th at 62.2%. Medina County leads all Ohio counties with an 82.2% self-response rate.

Minster has an 87.5% self-response rate, which is ninth best among Ohio’s 928 incorporated communities. At 87.1%, Russia has the best self-response rate in Shelby County and the 12th best rate in Ohio. Evendale has the state’s best self-response rate at 88.7%.

Fort Loramie (84.4%), Botkins (76.9%), Anna (73.8%) and Sidney (71.8%) also have exceeded state and national self-response rates.

Kettlersville (62%), Lockington (61.7%), Jackson Center (60.6%) and Port Jefferson (54.7%) are lagging behind state and national self-response rates.

Data collection for the 2020 census will continue through Oct. 31.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in California granted a preliminary injunction late Thursday to prevent the Trump administration from ending data collection at the end of September, stating the shortened schedule likely would produce inaccurate results.

“An undercount in any locality matters greatly. Even a small undercount of a subset of the hard to count population would result in the loss of federal funding,” Koh wrote. “These harms and others will last through 2030, if not later.”

The results of the census, which has been held every decade since 1790, determine how many congressional seats each state gets and how $1.5 trillion in federal spending is distributed annually.

The 2020 census marks the first time that residents are encouraged to respond to the census online. However, individuals still may answer the questionnaire by phone or through the mail.

Census takers also will visit households that haven’t responded through the end of October.

Residents can respond to the census by visiting my2020census.gov or calling 844-330-2020.

By Kyle Shaner

[email protected]

Reach this writer at [email protected] or 937-538-4824.

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