New York’s census response continues to lag

The COVID-19 pandemic has hurt New York’s ambitious plans to get residents counted in the 2020 Census.

New York City’s $40 million investment into census outreach – much of which was pushed through large events and town halls, as well as door-knocking – had to quickly pivot to prioritizing virtual outreach. The state had plans to spend $60 million for its own census outreach plans – meant to begin being distributed in early March – before being disrupted by the onset of the pandemic. And with many people focused on their health and financial well-being – in addition to being largely stuck indoors – it has become even more difficult to get people to worry about the census.

Although the U.S. Census Bureau has managed to push back the timeline for finalizing the count, New York is still struggling. The state has a 57.6% response rate so far – that’s about five percentage points lower than the national rate. 

If New York’s residents remain undercounted, that could jeopardize the number of congressional representatives in the state and result in proportionally less federal funding.

Census officials expected the hardest-to-count communities to include immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, renters and the homeless. Reaching them can be difficult because of language barriers, government mistrust or simply because they move around. But many of New York City’s lowest-performing areas are located in wealthier neighborhoods that normally have high response rates because many residents left their homes and aren’t easy to reach.