Census 2020

Central New Yorkers who have yet to be counted in the 2020 Census will have more time to respond to the once a decade national headcount. A federal judge ruled just days before the deadline that the count could not end prior to October 31st at risk of an undercount.

The Census only happens every ten years. So, the data collected in this year’s count will be used for the next decade to determine where to invest services, how much federal funds communities receive, and government representation. With the "Who Counts" project, young people are talking about what makes their community important and why their neighbors need to fill out the census. 

Leaders from Syracuse, Onondaga County, and non-profit partners are making a final push to encourage responses for the 2020 census before the September 30th deadline.  Officials are spending the next six days going door to door in less responsive city neighborhoods to spread information about the census.

Organizations in Syracuse already scrambling to find safe ways to reach hard-to-count populations for the census because of the pandemic now have one month less to gather and submit that information.  The Trump administration announced this week that the census bureau will end field data collection and stop collecting data September 30th. 

Upstate counties and cities are competing to achieve the best U.S. Census response rate before Census volunteers come knocking.  The goal of the US Census Bureau's “PUSH Week” is to increase participation in the 2020 Census.  

The 2020 census is officially underway with the first person in the country being counted in rural Alaska. But people in the Syracuse area won’t have census takers on snow mobiles coming to their door. Instead, they’ll be asked to fill out the census digitally for the first time in history. And libraries expect to play a big role in our area, where a quarter of residents don’t have internet access at home.

A state commission to oversee the 2020 census count for New York State adopted its action plan Tuesday. But immigrant rights groups worry that it’s too little, too late.

Two growing populations in Central New York, new Americans and the elderly, are also typically undercounted in the census. The amount of federal dollars the area will receive depends on an accurate count of these populations.

Syracuse and Onondaga County officials are trying to find the best way to get as thorough a census count as possible.  They announced the area’s Complete Count Committee on Wednesday.  It will utilize community groups to try and encourage participation in neighborhoods or among demographic groups that are usually hard to count.