By Conrad Dudderar
Senior Staff Writer
Canadian County has the highest self-response rate among all 77 Oklahoma counties on the 2020 U.S. Census.
U.S. Census Bureau data shows Canadian County’s response rate is 72.6%, and that’s 2.4% higher than Cleveland County in second place.
Some 99.98% of all housing units and addresses nationwide were accounted for in the 2020 Census when self-response and data collection operations ended Oct. 15. Self-response rate nationally is 67%.
Oklahoma ranks 41st among states with a self-response rate of 61% with 38.9% enumerated in nonresponse follow-up, according to the data.
Canadian County has three of Oklahoma’s top 10 municipalities by self-response rate: Piedmont is third at 81.4%, Mustang is sixth at 78.9% and Yukon is ninth at 78.3%.
Although Yukon finished just behind rival Mustang in a friendly “Canadian County Bedlam” census response competition, Yukon Mayor Shelli Selby is well pleased with the results.
“I’m thankful for everybody who participated,” Selby said. “It’s important to be counted, and we were well represented.
“I’m proud of Canadian County, and I’m especially proud of Yukon. I think we did really well.”
Yukon’s and Canadian County’s self-response rates both improved from the 2010 Census.
Yukon was 76.7% and Canadian County was 71.6% in the last population count 10 years ago.
ONLINE PREFERRED
The census is mandated by the Constitution every decade and the U.S. has counted its population every 10 years since 1790.
Citizens have responded to the 2020 Census by filling out questionnaires via the Internet, by phone and through the mail.
By a strong majority, respondents this year preferred completing their census forms online.
The Internet response rate is 68.1% in Yukon and 63.3% across Canadian County.
The U.S. Census Bureau is processing the data to deliver complete and accurate state population counts by the Dec. 31 statutory deadline.
“Hundreds of millions of people were counted in the 2020 Census, and statisticians and data quality experts are now busy making sure everyone was counted once, only once, and in the right place,” said Steven Dillingham, director of the U.S. Census Bureau. “The Census Bureau will use the best methodologies available to resolve the very small number of unresolved addresses and to ensure that our data products are accurate.”
The 2020 Census asked a few simple questions about people living in each household.
This includes the type of dwelling (house, apartment or mobile home), number of people living there, and each person’s name, sex, date of birth, race, and origin.
Census questionnaire responses were anonymous.
“The results of the census are very important to our community,” Mayor Selby said. “It determines the amount of federal dollars we get for our schools, streets, our police and fire, and the list goes on.”
The results are used to determine how many legislators represent municipalities at the State Capitol and how many representatives Oklahoma will have in the U.S. Congress.
For more information about the 2020 Census,visit my2020census.gov.
