Complete the census online at my2020census.gov or by phone at 844-330-2020.
Jan Hester Maynor, Special Projects Planner with the Lumber River Council of Governments, released the latest submitted 2020 Census percentages in North Carolina and in Bladen County today. Bladen County could lose 20,000 dollars over the next ten years, per resident who does not submit their census.
According to Maynor, as the Census data collection draws to a close, there is renewed outreach and attention on a complete and accurate count.
According to NC Demography.org’s Bladen County: Census 2020 Real-Time Response Rates report for the week ending August 18, 45.9% of households in Bladen County have self-responded to the 2020 Census between March 12 and August 18, 2020. Bladen County is currently ranked 86 out of 100 counties in NC.
According to the report, 18.9% of Bladen households responded to the census online versus 46.8% of all NC households. 27.0% of Bladen households responded to the census by phone or mail versus 13.0% of all NC households.
“We’re seeing some progress,” Maynor stated.
Below are the percentages of the submitted 2020 Census in the area. The first column percentage represents August 10th response rates and the second column percentages is the August 23 response rate.
North Carolina 59% 60.20%
Bladen County 45.40% 46.40%
Municipality percentages:
Bladenboro 47% 48.4%
Clarkton 41.3% 42.6%
Dublin 31.6% 36.2%
East Arcadia 45.9% 47.2%
Elizabethtown 51% 52.3%
Tar Heel 40% 45.7%
White Lake 16.8% 17.3%
The Census Bureau sent reminder postcards the week of July 20, began emailing households in low-responding tracts the week of July 27, and began a nationwide ad campaign the week of August 10. In North Carolina, there was messaging to respond to “Avoid the Knock” starting the week of August 3 and Census workers began showing up in neighborhoods on August 11.
North Carolina’s census response surged during this time, increasing 0.8 percentage points between July 20 and August 4 and another 0.7 percentage points between August 4 and August 18. According to Maynor’s report, this was four times the increases that occurred from late June through mid-July. If the trends observed between 8/4-8/18 continue for each two-week period through September 30, another 15 counties will meet or exceed their 2010 rates:
- Jackson and Swain by September 1;
- Ashe, Bertie, Bladen, and Granville by September 15; and
- Johnston, Lincoln, Madison, Moore, Orange, Pamlico, Union, and Wake by September 29.
Maynor explained, “While this is encouraging news, we need to remain vigilant in our efforts to make sure all are counted.”
Bladen County influencers promote the 2020 Census and explain why the census is vital to the area. View the video below:
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