County lags behind in census responses

Wyoming is lagging behind the rest of the nation in responding to the 2020 Census, with just 44.4% of households logged so far compared to a national total of 53.2%, which is more than 75 million households.

In Crook County, the numbers are lower still. Only 26.8% percent of households have responded to the census at this time.

Crook County Clerk Linda Fritz strongly recommends that as many citizens of the county as possible should complete the 2020 Census to ensure that the right information is available to make critical decisions such as where more schools and hospitals are needed.

“It’s important for local residents to respond to the census survey. It affects their representation within government at the state and federal level and it is the basis of how assistance funds are allocated for roads, highways, infrastructure and more,” says Fritz.

It also affects how funding is allocated to over 100 federal programs, including Medicaid, Head Start and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), she says, and informs how billions in federal funding flow to communities every year.

“Just like voting, this is a civic duty for us all,” says Fritz.

For the first time this year, the option to submit your data online has been available to American citizens at 2020census.gov. This has proved popular, with 38.7% of Wyomingites choosing to log on to fill out the poll so far, and more popular still in Crook County, where almost everyone who has submitted their household data so far has done so via the internet: 25.1% of respondents of the total of 26.8%.

The census can also be completed by phone or mail. Homes began receiving their invitations to respond and ID numbers over a month ago.

In 2010, the last time a census was taken in the United States, the final percentage of Crook County households that recorded their data was 59.7%, just under the state average of 63.4%.

The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that it is taking steps to reactivate field data collection operations after June 1. Later this year, the bureau plans to send census takers to visit households that have not yet responded to the census to help them complete their questionnaires.