DuPage County Report
The U.S. Census is in its final six weeks, and the DuPage Complete Count Committee is urging residents to complete their Census forms.
DuPage County’s self-response rate is currently at 78.8 percent, which ranks third in the nation among counties with a population greater than 500,000. But officials hope to increase the response rate.
“We cannot underestimate the value of increasing our U.S. Census response rates. DuPage County’s level of federal funding is highly dependent upon on our population. The only way to obtain the level of federal funding we are owed is if everyone fills out their Census information,” said Sadia Covert, Chairwoman of the DuPage Complete Count Committee. “This money will be used to fund states and counties, but also for schools, hospitals, roads, and other vital programs. There is so much at stake with this Census.”
Beginning this month, the U.S. Census Bureau is following up in-person with households nationwide that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census. Based on the current nationwide self-response rate, the Bureau estimates it will need to visit about 56 million addresses to collect responses in person.
In most cases, Census workers will make up to six attempts at each housing unit address to count possible residents. This includes leaving notification of the attempted visit on the door. The notification will include reminder information on how to respond online, by mail, or by phone. In addition, census workers may try to reach the household by phone to conduct the interview.
After exhausting their efforts to do an in-person interview with a resident of an occupied housing unit, they will seek out proxy sources – a neighbor, a rental agent, a building manager or some other knowledgeable person familiar with who resides in the housing unit – to obtain as much basic information about the occupants as possible.
Census takers are hired from local communities. All census takers speak English, and many are bilingual. If a Census taker does not speak the household language, the household may request a return visit from a census taker who does.
“It has never been easier to submit your information for the Census. You can do it online, over the phone, or by mail, all without having to meet face-to-face with someone during a pandemic,” said DuPage Complete Count Committee Vice Chairman Jim Healy.
Your information is safe, secure, and confidential, and by law cannot be shared with any law enforcement or immigration agencies.
To fill out your Census form or to learn more about the U.S. Census, please visit 2020census.gov.
Editor’s Note / No matter where you live in the United States of America, take a few minutes to fill out the Census 2020 to be sure everybody is counted.
Note also that Naperville is served by two counties, DuPage and Will. Will County residents also are urged to fill out the form to keep Naperville’s response growing toward 100 percent. Currently, Naperville reports 82.8% response.
DuPage County response is 78.8% while Will County is 76.1%. With 102 counties, Illinois’ response is 68.9%
As of August 18, 2020, the U.S. Census Department reports the 2020 Self Response result throughout the U.S. is 64.0%.
Thank you. Everybody counts.
