Census 2000:
How You Can Help Make It a Success
by: Buck McVeigh, Administrator, Division of Economic Analysis

"Using the Census Bureau's national estimate of $165 per person, the 1990 undercount cost our state close to $1.7 million per year in lost federal funding. Over ten years, this amounted to almost $17 million."

Census 2000, the largest peace-time mobilization in U.S. history, began in March. Approximately 860,000 census takers will be needed to reach an anticipated 275 million people across the United States. In Wyoming alone, 1,800 temporary jobs will be filled during the census (until July 2000). And you are needed to make it a success. If you are interested in becoming a census taker, the toll-free Census job phone number is 1-800-325-7733. People may also contact recently opened Local Census Offices in Cheyenne (307-772-2869) and Casper (307-261-5131).

Census 2000 will be the information cornerstone for the next century. Billions of dollars of federal, state and local funds will be spent on thousands of projects across our nation. How and where that money is spent depends on the census numbers. For example, decisions about education, health care, job training and business are based on information about children, the elderly, the unemployed or underemployed. Moreover, the development of public transportation systems and traffic control are based on where people work and live. Census 2000 is your chance to make sure that the new century begins with an accurate and complete picture of your community.

The census is not just about population - housing, social and economic data are obtained as well. The survey obtains data about families, households, income, employment, transportation, education and poverty levels.

The undercount from the 1990 census was significant in Wyoming. In fact, Wyoming ranked ninth nationwide in total undercount in the 1990 census. In terms of people missed, this amounted to just over 10,000. This number would not be all that significant if Wyoming's total population was in the millions, but because Wyoming's population is not even close to that (453,588 in 1990), the undercount was very significant.

Using the Census Bureau's national estimate of $165 per person, the 1990 undercount cost our state close to $1.7 million dollars per year in lost federal funding. Over ten years, this amounted to almost $17 million. Worse yet, because this is a national figure, we fear it is significantly diluted from what we actually lost per person in Wyoming. Based on figures from the U.S. Government Accounting Office, the loss per person in Wyoming was closer to $540 per year. This would mean that Wyoming lost closer to $5.4 million per year in federal funds, or $54 million over a ten-year period.

State-shared revenue (i.e., sales & use taxes, mineral severance taxes, Federal mineral royalties and motor fuel taxes) is another story for local governments. Wyoming municipalities receive, on average, $322 per person each year in state government-shared revenue based on population. Counties receive $237 per person each year in population-based, state-shared revenue.

In effect, the State of Wyoming made funding provisions for schools, roads, health facilities, housing and other important services for 10,000 additional people not counted by the census in 1990.

About a week before Census Day - April 1, 2000, most households will receive a questionnaire by mail. However, census takers will hand deliver questionnaires to people living on American Indian Reservations and most rural areas starting in early March. Your answers are important. A census is only as good as the people who participate in it.

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These pages designed by Gayle C. Edlin.
Last modified on by Valerie A. Davis.