Connecticut’s Self-Response Rises, but Many Tracts Are Struggling
What You Need to Know
Our analysis of Census 2020 self-response rates in Connecticut by tract with demographic characteristics found that:
A total of 154 census tracts from 36 municipalities accounted for the bottom 5th of self-response rates in the state. The majority of these are in our major cities.
Tracts with over 50% Hispanic or black residents have lower response rates than tracts with over 50% white residents.
Tracts with fewer home-owners and more multi-family homes have lower response rates.
Tracts that received census mailings in English have the highest self-response rates. Out of these tracts, those that received mailings to complete the questionnaire via the Internet first have the highest self-response rates.
Tracts with less Internet access have lower self-response rates.
Many of these groups are at risk of being undercounted. This may result in lack of funding for many of the services, programs, and benefits that residents need. Knowing this information can help your organization or Complete Count Committee understand where you can focus to increase your town’s self-response rate, even if you have an overall high self-response rate. You can use this tutorial to understand the specific groups you may need to reach in your community.
Connecticut ranks 14th in self-response rates, but many of our tracts are struggling
Connecticut’s self-response rate rose to 64% as of May 25, with 10 towns passing their 2010 self-response rate. However, when we explore the data at a granular level, it reveals a crucial piece of the narrative: an area’s demographic characteristics can increase their risk of being undercounted in the 2020 Census.
The U.S. Census Bureau divides counties into subdivisions called census tracts of approximately 4,000 people (can be anywhere between 1,200 to 8,000 people). These smaller sizes make it easier to compare than towns.
Comparing Hartford (2018 population: 122,587) to Harwinton (2018 population: 5,430) doesn’t make much sense. Looking at census-tract level allows us to compare areas of Connecticut and identify where we can target outreach efforts to provide support based on community needs.
The U.S. Census Bureau changed some census tracts for the 2020 Census, so this analysis is an estimate, with the purpose of gaining general insights.
Note: We used the Connecticut census tract data compiled by the Mapping Service at the Center for Urban Research, CUNY Graduate Center to help us conduct this analysis.
A total of 154 census tracts from 36 municipalities accounted for the bottom 5th of self-response rates in the state.
Of these, five cities account for most of the majority of the tracts.
Tracts with over 50% Hispanic or black residents had lower response rates
There are 32 tracts in Connecticut where over 50% of residents identify as black. Among these tracts, the average self-response rate was 46% on May 25, 2020. Among the 65 tracts with over 50% residents identifying as Hispanic, the average self-response rate was 41%. This is significantly lower than the 69% self-response average among the five hundred fifty-eight tracts with over 50% of residents identifying as white.
There are many reasons people of differing racial or ethnic groups don’t participate in the census. This page can give your organization or Complete Count Committee some resources and ideas to help you support people of all racial and ethnic groups in your community and ensure they are counted in the 2020 Census.
Tracts with fewer home-owners and more multi-family homes had lower response rates
Tracts that have more renters are at a higher risk of undercount. In this initial analysis, we explored tracts that have over 50% of households that are renters or in buildings with five or more units.
From this analysis, we found that the 98 tracts with more than 50% of the households renting had an average self-response rate of 45%. Among households living in tracts where over 50% of housing consisted of buildings with 10 or units or more, the average self-response rate is 43%. In tracts where buildings of two or more units comprised over 50% of housing, the average self-response rate was 47%.
Tracts that received census mailings in English had the highest self-response rates
This was the first census that could be completed online. Each year more and more households have access to the Internet, but many still do not. The U.S. Census Bureau made efforts to address this barrier through their mailing strategy.
Tracts who received invitations in English to complete the 2020 Census online had the highest average response rate as of May 25 (68%). Tracts who received invitations to complete the census either online or with a paper form in both Spanish and English had the lowest (41%).
Tracts with lower Internet access have lower self-response rates
Although the Census Bureau attempted to account for lower Internet access rates through their mailing strategy, we see that as Internet access goes down in census tracts, so do self-response rates to the census.
If you would like specific information on your town or municipality, please email us, and we can share the town-level data with you. You can also learn how to explore your own census tracts and the factors that may result in undercounts in this post.
This analysis was conducted as part of our partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau as the Connecticut Census State Data Center. In this role we serve as the liaison between the public and the bureau, providing useful and digestible information regarding the 2020 Census, as well as other census products. We provide over 60 American Community Survey datasets, develop census data tools such as the tract to town converter and aggregate margin of error tool, and will analyze the Household Pulse Survey as data become available.