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Census 2020: You Farm. You Count!
Posted on February 16, 2020 12:00 AM
Compiled by Jay Stone
Participating in the 2020 Census is important! It’s crucial that the U.S. Census Bureau get an accurate count of the number of people living in Georgia and where they live because federal, state and local governments use these numbers to determine funding for education, health, nutrition assistance and transportation programs. The numbers also determine how many representatives Georgia has in Congress.
Georgia ranked 31st in the U.S. for its response rate in the 2010 Census. Counties with the lowest response rates were south of Macon.
Make sure Georgia is accurately counted this year, especially our rural communities. You may take the census online, by phone, by mail or in person.
Key Census dates:
March: Invitations mailed to homes asking residents to respond online, by phone or mail.
April 1: National Census Day. Every home will have received invite to take the census.
April: Census takers begin visiting college students living on campus, people in senior centers and others living among large groups of people. Census takers also begin quality check interviews.
May-August: Census takers visit homes that haven’t responded to the 2020 Census. Census workers must present an ID badge with their photo, Dept. of Commerce watermark & an expiration date. They should not ask for your full social security number, bank or credit card account numbers, money or donations.
August: The online 2020 Census form will close.
December: The Census Bureau delivers apportionment counts to the president & Congress.
Interesting Census numbers
• 0: Amount of your info the Census Bureau may release for 72 years that identifies your home .
• 14: # of U.S. Representatives Georgia has in Congress based on census numbers. Georgia gained a seat in Congress after the 2010 census.
• 55: # of federal programs that use census data to calculate funding. These include Medicare Part B, nutrition assistance, highway construction, education & housing assistance.
• $2,300: Federal funding Georgia receives per person/year based on census counts.
• $68.6 million: Federal dollars lost by Georgia for every 1% undercount in the census.
For more information: visit www.census.georgia.gov.