With 2020 Census deadline moved earlier, Nashville area still lags behind 2010 self-response rates – Tennessean
The 2020 Census will end a month earlier than planned due to the coronavirus pandemic, but most Tennessee counties have only recorded a two percentage-point increase in self-participation rates since May.
Davidson County lags a full seven percentage points behind 2010 self-response rates.
The 2020 Census, originally scheduled to conclude on July 31, was pushed to the end of October earlier this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. That date changed again last Friday, when the Bureau announced data collection will now end Sept. 30, to ensure enough time to process data by the statutory deadline of Dec. 31.
To encourage greater Census participation, Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s office and the U.S. Census Bureau announced Tuesday they have partnered with The Equity Alliance and The 200 Man Stand. The group will hold a Census Parade in historically underserved communities to encourage Nashvillians to participate in the 2020 Census.
The parade will take place Wednesday, from 3 to 4 p.m. The route will begin at the Napier Recreation Center located at 73 Fairfield Ave., where organizers will begin traveling down several streets including First Avenue South, Hart Street, Lewis Street and Trimble Street, before returning to the Napier Recreation Center. Organizers will not make stops along the parade route.
2020 Census: Who’s responded so far
So far, the 2020 national self-response rate has been 62.9%, just slightly above Tennessee. As of Aug. 2, the percentage of Tennessee households that had self-responded was 62.3%, while final self-response in 2010 was 67.1%.
In 2010, the total national Census response rate, which includes both self-response data and numbers from in-person data collectors, was 74% of U.S. households, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
In 2010, Tennessee’s total response rate was 76%.
Tennessee is currently tracking just behind Kentucky’s self-response rate of 65.9% (more than 11 percentage points lower than Kentucky’s total 2010 response rate of 77%), but better than other Southern states like Alabama (60.6%) and Georgia (58.7%). Both Alabama and Georgia reported a total response rate of 72% in 2010.
As a city, 73% of Nashville households in total participated in the 2010 Census. As of August 2, only 59.8% of Davidson County has self-responded, compared to 67.2% that self-responded in 2010. Cheatham County is also further behind its 2010 numbers, with 66.6% self-responding, compared with 72.3% in the last Census.
Williamson County is still recording the highest self-response rate in the state, with 75.6% of households having participated so far, nearly five percentage points above the next closest counties. McNairy County recorded the lowest self-response rate in the state, with only 42% of households participating as of August 2.
Residents can still fill out the 2020 Census online at 2020census.gov.
Tennessee self-participation rates in 2020 Census by county
- Cheatham: 66.6%; 72.3% in 2010
- Davidson: 59.8%; 67.2% in 2010
- Dickson: 68.1%; 69.7% in 2010
- Hamilton: 64.0%; 67.3% in 2010
- Knox: 67.8%; 71.4% in 2010
- Madison: 64.6%; 68.2% in 2010
- Maury: 66.3%; 70.2% in 2010
- Montgomery: 63.7%; 64.1% in 2010
- Robertson: 66.7%; 69.3% in 2010
- Rutherford: 65.9%; 69.4% in 2010
- Shelby: 58.9%; 62.5% in 2010
- Sumner: 68.9%; 72.4% in 2010.
- Williamson: 75.6%; 76.7% in 2010
- Wilson: 70.7%; 72.9% in 2010
Published 11:38 AM EDT Aug 5, 2020
