Effort aims to fight census undercount
Leaders in Appalachian Ohio worry that there will once again be an undercount of the region’s population, leaving federal dollars and representation on the table.
So they’ll be pushing ads to improve response rates to the U.S. census this year. Three organizations have raised $44,000 to get the word out in 22 southeast Ohio counties, an effort dubbed Appalachian Ohio Counts.
“This is a really unique outreach. It may be the largest coordinated effort to reach Appalachian Ohio ever,” said Aaron Dagres, a partnership specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau.
And the city of Athens received $10,000 from the National League of Cities for a local effort.
Athens Mayor Steve Patterson said undercounts in large student precincts have been a problem.
In 2010, the response rate in one census tract was just more than 47%.
“It’s now tracking at 29%,” Patterson said. “That’s pretty stark underreporting taking place there.”
Patterson is also vice president of the Mayors’ Partnership for Progress, one of the three groups involved in the regional initiative; the two others are Ohio University’s Center for Campus Community Engagement and the Southeast Ohio Public Energy Council.
Luke Sulfridge, the executive director of the public energy council, said the census has shifted itself to an online response, which complicates efforts in a region where high-speed internet service is lacking.
He said that there is a disparity in return rates among residents of county seats and those in more rural areas.
The partners hired Sunday Creek Horizons, a business development, communications and advocacy company in southeastern Ohio, to create ads with targeted online placement to reach Appalachian Ohioans in the way they probably get access to the internet: smartphones.
Ads also will run on radio stations, and local leaders will give interviews.
“We’re trying to amplify the message,” said Sulfridge, whose group covers 14 communities in Athens, Hocking, Meigs and Perry counties.
“There’s always a disparity in Appalachia,” Sulfridge said.
As of May 31, the response rate nationally was 60.5%. In Ohio, it was 65.5%. In Franklin County it was 61.7%
Compare that with Hocking County at 57.3%, Athens County at 55.7%, and Vinton and Gallia counties at 54%.
Dagres said other challenges include reaching people who have no physical mailing address but instead a post office box. Areas with high poverty rates also have lower response rates.
Patterson said one big problem with reaching Ohio University students is that they went home when the pandemic closed the campus.
He said Athens County stands to lose $2.1 million to $4.2 million in federal money a year over the next decade because of a student undercount.
State Rep. Jay Edwards, a Republican from Nelsonville, said he supports the effort.
“I absolutely believe getting the word out and encouraging people in our part of Ohio to participate will be beneficial. As you know, it matters in so many ways,” he said.