U.S. Census Bureau Online Mapping Tool Helps Communities Prepare for 2010 Census
(February 2010) The U.S. Census Bureau has launched an online mapping tool that allows communities nationwide to prepare for the 2010 Census by seeing how well they did mailing back their 2000 Census forms.
Visitors to the new Google-based map will be able to find the 2000 Census mail participation rates for states, counties, and cities, as well as smaller areas called "census tracts." After the 2010 Census forms are mailed out, the online map will be updated to include a tracking tool with daily updates of the 2010 Census mail participation rates for local areas across the nation. Users will be able to compare their 2010 Census progress using their 2000 Census rates as a benchmark.
The emphasis on encouraging mail participation in the census is a practical one. For every 1 percent increase in mail response, taxpayers will save an estimated $85 million in federal funds. Those funds would otherwise be required to send census takers to collect census responses in person from households that do not mail back the form. After the 2000 Census, the Census Bureau was able to return $305 million in savings to the federal Treasury because mail rates exceeded expectations—a move the Census Bureau would like to repeat in 2010.
In 2000, 72 percent of households that received a form mailed it back. The mail participation rate is a new measure designed to give a better picture of actual participation by factoring out census forms that the U.S. Postal Service was unable to deliver as addressed. It should be particularly useful in areas with seasonal populations or a large number of housing vacancies or foreclosures.