Have you taken the Census yet?
The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States and takes place every 10 years.
Data from the 2020 Census will serve as a guide to determine the amount of federal funding the state would receive, which go towards schools, roads, health care, food assistance, workforce assistance, emergency planning and response, and other vital, community services.
The data collected also plays a vital role in determining how many seats in the House of Representatives each state receives.
Long Beach has a self-response rate of an average of 61.8%. The Self-Response by Census Tract Map highlights the response rates within Long Beach neighborhoods. The data shows that the areas in the wealthier districts such as Lakewood and Los Altos (highlighted in purple), have a higher response rate ranging from 75% – 85%, than the lower-income areas in the Westside, Northside and Downtown neighborhoods (highlighted in orange) including the Lower Westside, Washington, Wilmore, and De Forest areas, who have a response rate ranging from 16% – 50%.
The lowest self-response rate in the City of Long Beach of 16.3% is located in the Lower Westside. Of those responses only 4.7% came from completing the Census online. It’s important to note that the median income of that specific tract is $11,736, according to statisticalatlas.com
(2020census.gov)
In comparison, the area with the highest self-response rate of 83.4% is located in Los Altos. Of those responses, 76.1% of them were completed online. The median income of this area is $96,731.
So far only 63.2% of households in LA County have self-responded to the census, according to the Census Fact Sheets, data update from July 16.
Both citizens and non-citizens are encouraged to do the questionnaire as the information is kept private.
Currently there are three ways the Census can be completed: online, by phone and through mail.
Beginning in August, the U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to begin sending official enumerators to visit households that have not completed their form.
The questionnaire asks simple queries such as one’s address, household information, and takes around 10 minutes to complete. One individual can complete the Census to account for the rest of their household members including children, infants, grandparents, siblings, roommates or anyone who was living in the same household on April 1, 2020.
To preview exactly what questions will be asked, click here. There are no citizenship questions in The Census.
The Census has to be completed in one sitting or else the page will time out, resulting in having to start the questionnaire all over.
To complete the Census online, visit my2020census.gov. To complete the Census over the phone in English, call 844-330-2020. It’s also available in various languages including Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog, French and more which can be viewed here. The Census can also be completed by mail by filling out and returning a Census paper form that should have been mailed to all households in March and April.
