Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons^™

Counting Everyone Because Everyone Counts: The Value Of Census Data For Local Decision Making, Uma Krishnan

Metroscape

Once every ten years the US Census Bureau conducts the decennial United States census, and 2020 is the year. The census is a national effort to count everyone in the United States. Unfortunately, this year the COVID-19 pandemic has captured the nation’s attention even as the 2020 census struggles to claim relevance and broaden its reach. At the same time, census data has emerged as a critical tool for examining stark inequities in the demographics of who is contracting and dying of COVID-19. This year, counting everyone is more important than ever.

The Landscape: Making Oregon Count In 2020, Mac Cunningham

Metroscape

In our increasingly polarized national environment, the census remains one of the few tasks that all United States residents share in common. The results of the census will have implications for the decade to come.

Mandated by Article I of the United States Constitution, the census is the largest peacetime mobilization in the country. Conducted at the start of each new decade, the census is an effort by the government to count every resident in the United States at the location where each person usually lives. While this once-a-decade survey might seem labor intensive, the results of the census impact …

Periodic Atlas Of The Metroscape: Counting Oregon, Mac Cunningham, Xi Wei, Randy Morris

Metroscape

Every United States census has challenges ensuring that every person responds and is counted. Individuals who are missed in the census count or “undercounted” for various reasons are often referred to as “hard-to-count” populations. Hard-to-count populations include rural residents, people of color, immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, children under age five, renters, and more.

For the 2010 census, the final mail return rate in Oregon was 76 percent. Census tracts with a mail return response rate of 76 percent or less are highlighted on the map on this page. Response rates closest to the state’s final response rate are light yellow, …