Supporting a Competitive City: The 2020 Census

March 9, 2020
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A competitive Kentucky and a competitive Louisville both rely on an accurate Census count. Louisville, KY receives a portion of this money through Census data. The US government provides over $675 billion in grants, funds, and support to states, cities, and communities. The distribution of these funds is based on Census data.

Locally, Census-related funds touch all of the Greater Louisville Project (GLP) deep drivers (education, jobs, health, and quality of place). Schools, roads, hospitals, and public works are just a few of the programs and initiatives funded by Census-based federal funds. Metro Government uses Census data for emergency preparedness and public safety. Real estate developers use Census data to plan new home construction. Businesses rely on Census data in deciding where to relocate, where to build, and where to create jobs. Residents use Census data to advocate for policies, programs, and initiatives that improve the quality of place.

An inaccurate count will cost Louisville dearly. For every unaccounted person, the state of KY loses $2021, per year, for ten years. Children are the most undercounted group. If a child is not counted, they will not be counted again for ten years. Any funds that may have been able to help them through these crucial years, will miss them. The community will lose out on funds for KCHIP, SNAP, WIC, school lunch programs, and Medicaid.

This year, the Census will be available to take online or on a mobile smartphone. Local and federal officials are encouraging as many people as possible to complete the Census online. Phone, mail-in and in-person options will still also be available. Federal law prevents Census Bureaus from releasing any personal information.

There will be no citizenship question on the Census.

Quote from Census.gov:

Everyone living in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) is required by law to be counted in the 2020 Census.

Everyone residing in Louisville during the Census needs to be counted. The Census is available in multiple languages. Phone translations assistance will also be available.

In order to achieve a complete count, Louisville needs Census workers. Many part-time jobs are available at the National Processing Center in Jeffersonville. Neighbors can be paid to encourage neighbors to complete the Census. For those interested in Census jobs, click here. The website can also be translated into other languages.

One more reason to support an accurate count is to support GLP. GLP heavily relies on Census data. The data allows us to measure both local success and challenges. Government leaders, business leaders, members of the philanthropic community, and residents use GLP data to advocate for effective civic change.

The Census is a vital tool in the work of GLP and in making a thriving, equitable Louisville.

  • To learn more about local Census efforts, click here.
  • To download Census outreach materials, click here.
  • From Metro United Way: Text COUNTMEIN to 51555 to get the official link to fill out the Census in March! The Metro United Way will have Mobile Census Labs in various areas of the community to help ease the digital divide and help residents complete the Census online.

References 

Census 2020 Complete Count https://louisvilleky.gov/government/resilience-and-community-services/census-2020-complete-count#why

https://2020census.gov/

https://metrounitedway.org/why-the-census-counts/

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/2020/01/03/census-2020-urge-kentucky-lawmakers-fund-complete-count/2729263001/

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Natural Breaks Algorithm

For each indicator, Greater Louisville Project assigns cities into one of three groups (high-performing, middle-of-the-pack, and low-performing) based on how they compare to other cities. The assignment is based on how cities naturally cluster on that indicator. Sometimes, the differences between cities are very small, and the difference between a city ranked 5th and 6th could simply be a matter of the sampling error that arises from using survey data. Thus, rather than always make a division that declares the top 5 to be the top tier, we use a natural breaks algorithm to look for a cluster of cities that is outperforming the rest, a cluster that is about average, and a cluster that is lagging. This clustering gives us a better indication of where Louisville is thriving and where Louisville has room to learn from cities that are doing better.

Z-Scores

Z-scores (or standardization) is a way to combine data with different units of measurement into a single index. The z-score is a measure of how far away a city (or census tract, etc.) is from the average city. In order to be comparable across different units of measurement, the z-score is the distance from the mean measured in standard deviations (e.g. if Louisville has a z-score of 1 it means Louisville is 1 standard deviation above the mean of its peer cities).

Data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's County Health Rankings use z-scores and all z-scores are relative to the mean of Louisville's peer cities. (On the County Health Rankings site z-scores are relative to all the counties in each state - thus z-scores reported by GLP will be different, because we are using a different reference group). The Greater Louisville Project also uses z-scores in our multidimensional poverty index, which compares each census tract to the mean of all census tracts in Louisville.