Amid Pandemic, City Officials Calling on Local Residents to Complete the Census

According to current statistics, the 2020 Census response rate for Pasadena is 59.8 percent and in some areas of the city response rate is still below 50 percent.

Mayor Terry Tornek said that although portions of the 2020 have been delayed and people are preoccupied by the Coronavirus now is the perfect time for them to take the Census online.

“A lot of people are sitting at home and are online all the time and you’d think that since it’s 10 questions, and you can do it online. I would think that people would just get it out of the way, but that’s not the way it’s working,” Tornek told Pasadena Now.

The census consists of nine basic demographic questions: who lives in the household; how they are related; their age, sex, and race; whether they own or rent their house; and their phone number.

Population counts from the 2020 census will be used to determine how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets for the next decade. The data will also be used to help distribute nearly $900 billion in federal funding for such things as schools, roads and other public services.

“The last time I looked was a little over a week ago, the national response rate was about 50 percent and California was about there. Pasadena was at about 51 percent, but a lot of the Census tracts that are hard to count historically, were down in the in the 40 percent response rate. It’s pretty much what we expected. The results are lagging because people are preoccupied.”

Some immigrants and minorities are hesitant to complete the process because they feel answering the questions could lead to queries about their immigration status and a distrust of government.

In 2019, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from including a question about immigration status on the Census.

If those communities do not participate it could lead to an  undercount, which could be devastating to the city.

In 2010 Census data was used to distribute more than $400 million to support local schools, transportation, housing, and healthcare programs.

Population counts from the 2020 census will be used to determine how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets for the next decade.

The census can be completed at my2020census.gov and complete the form online.