Photo by Ingrid Schnader
For the first time ever, the 2020 Census is online-first. This is a barrier for some Homewood residents who don’t have internet access, though.
April 1 is Census Day, and all of the Birmingham suburbs in the Starnes Media coverage area are reporting participation rates that are higher than both state and national participation rates.
As of early morning April 1, Chelsea had the highest census participation rate among Birmingham suburb cities at 51%. As 280 Living previously reported, Shelby County hopes to exceed its 2010 response of 80%, with a goal to be at 90% this time around. The 2010 response rate was one of the highest in the state, with only three other counties hitting that mark.
Trussville’s rate wan't far behind Chelsea’s. This city reported a 50.5% participation rate the morning of April 1. Trussville officials expect the city’s population to swell to approximately 23,500 people, based on housing starts, average persons per household and annexations since the 2010 Census.
Mountain Brook reported a 48.3% participation rate. The city began preparing for the upcoming population count last year, when the city chose to participate in the Local Update of Census Addresses, or LUCA for short. By doing so, it was given the opportunity to review and comment on the accuracy of the U.S. Census Bureau’s residential address list in the city.
Next is Vestavia Hills, which reported a 48.1% participation rate April 1. The city’s communications director, Cinnamon McCulley, said earlier this year that the city has been working to address concerns some people have expressed about the census.
Hoover reported a 45.3% participation rate on April 1. The city of Hoover in one way or another receives about $1,600 in federal benefits for every person counted, said Hoover public information officer Melanie Posey, who is leading the city’s effort to encourage people to participate in the census.
Homewood reported the lowest participation rate among Birmingham suburbs in our coverage area April 1 at 40.3%. Homewood faces unique challenges — there are several undocumented immigrants in the community, said Carlos Alemán, deputy director of ¡HICA!. Alemán said he has spent the past year reassuring them that there will not be a citizenship question on the survey.
All of the above cities reported participation rates higher than the state and national rates, which were 37.3% and 36.2%, respectively, on April 1.
The city of Birmingham reported a rate of 33.6% on April 1.
Alabama residents began receiving notices about the census in mid-March. The notice has instructions on how to complete the survey, which takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. Visit my2020census.gov to complete your census survey.
Those who don’t complete the survey by May or June will be visited at their residence by a U.S. Census Bureau employee.
To track real-time census participation results, go to 2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html.
