Kenosha County Census 2010

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Contact Info

Kenosha Census Office
5700 6th Avenue
Kenosha, WI 53140
Ph: (262) 842-1600

Annie Jones
Community Resource Development Educator, UW-Extension

Kristen Lie
Community Planning Educator, UW-Extension

Kenosha County UW-Extension
19600 75th St.
P.O. Box 550
Bristol, WI 53104
Ph: (262) 857-1945
Fax: (262) 857-1998

Dear Kenosha County Residents,

In recent years, Kenosha County has experienced remarkable growth. On April 1, 2010, we will have the opportunity to measure exactly how much we’ve developed as a community over the last 10 years.

The U.S. Constitution requires that all residents be counted at the start of each new decade. As Kenosha County continues to grow, it is essential that every one of us is counted to ensure that Wisconsin receives appropriate representation in Washington, D.C. over the next 10 years, and that we are allocated our fair share of federal and state resources for schools, hospitals, transportation, public safety, and other community services.

I encourage you to participate in the Census, and also to reach out to every person in your community so that we can be certain that our count is complete and accurate.

Sincerely,

Jim Kreuser
Kenosha County Executive

Updates

7/8/10: Nonresponse Followup Complete, Quality Assurance Check Operations Underway

As of June 28, the nonresponse followup operation (i.e., door-to-door enumeration) was 99.6% completed. The Census Bureau is now conducting quality assurance checks to ensure that the data collected is accurate -- this involves follow-up telephone calls to verify household numbers; ensuring that addresses listed as vacant are indeed vacant; and checking whether an address exists and to confirm its geographic location, if it does not match an address in the Bureau file.

4/27/10: Initial mail participation rates posted

On April 27, 2010, the Census Bureau completed the mailback stage of the 2010 census. At that time, Kenosha County's overall mail participation rate was 77%. Local community rates were as follows:

Brighton - 84%
Paris - 84%
Pleasant Prairie - 81%
Randall - 81%
Bristol - 80%
Paddock Lake - 79%
Silver Lake - 79%
Wheatland - 79%
Salem - 79%
Somers - 78%
Twin Lakes - 77%
City of Kenosha - 76%

The national participation rate was 72%, the same as in 2000. The state participation rate was 81%.

Participation rates throughout the Country can be found on the Take 10 Map.

Other News

Some articles on regional and national census efforts and challenges include:

U.S. Census completed at $1.6 billion under budget (McClatchy Newspapers, 8/10/10)
Census 2010: Statistics and Next Steps (Pew Research Center, 7/15/10)
Census aims to (finally) move into the future (USA Today, 7/6/10)
Wisconsin leads nation in census response (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 4/28/10)
Census mail results could be trouble for 5 states (AP, 4/28/10)
Census returns hit 72 percent, match rate in 2000 (AP, 4/23/10)
2010 Census response rate surprisingly close to 2000 rate (USA Today, 4/21/10)
Trying to Break Down Resistance to the Census (New York Times, 4/1/10)
Is the Midwest More Civic Minded than the Rest of Us? (Newsweek, 3/29/10)

Kenosha County's Complete Count Committee

To boost participation next year, the U.S. Census Bureau is partnering with local governments and organizations across the nation to develop Complete Count Committees. These community-based groups are intended to help raise awareness of the census through education and outreach, and to encourage local response rates to the census questionnaire. In Kenosha, all twelve municipalities are working together with the County and the Census Bureau.

Kenosha County Complete Count Committee

Frequently Asked Questions

How will I know if the person at my door is really a census worker?

If you do not return your census form, at some point between April and July of 2010, the Census Bureau will knock on your door. Before you give them any information, please keep in mind:

Census field representatives will have an ID badge with a Department of Commerce watermark and expiration date. They may also be carrying a bag with a Census Bureau logo.
Census workers will work throughout the week, including weekends. They will only work during daylight hours. They will never ask to enter your home.
Census workers will never ask for Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers. They never solicit donations and will never contact you by e-mail.

If you have any doubts, contact the local census office at 262-842-1600 to verify whether the person is a census worker.

Why do we take the census?

The U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 2) mandates that every 10 years, every person residing in the United States must be counted. This includes people of all ages, races, ethnic groups, citizens, and non-citizens, living in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas.

Decision-makers at all levels of government, as well as local businesses and organizations, utilize data collected through the census to figure out how to allocate finite resources across the country and within each community. For example:

Over $400 billion in federal funds are distributed every year throughout the country, often based on population-driven formulas.
Census data are used to determine how many seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Local governments use the census data to draw district boundary lines within every state.
Communities use census data to decide when and where to build schools, hospitals, senior centers, roads, parks, and community facilities.
Government agencies and nonprofit organizations use census data to analyze community health, to determine where there are needs for community services, and to set community goals and priorities.

Do I really need to fill out the census questionnaire?

If you live in the United States of America, your participation in the census is required by law. In addition, if our population is undercounted, then Kenosha County will not receive all the federal resources to which we are entitled.

Has the census changed since 2000?

Census 2010 will be different from previous censuses in that each household will receive only the "short form" questionnaire -- 10 questions that can be answered in 10 minutes, or less.

The dreaded "long form," which was distributed to one in six households in order to gain detailed socio-economic data, has been eliminated. That information is now being collected on a yearly basis through the Bureau's American Community Survey.

I just got a questionnaire that says it is from the U.S. Census Bureau, but it asks for detailed information (e.g., household income, length of commute, amount of mortgage payments) -- is this a legitimate survey?

As stated above, the US Census Bureau does conduct the American Community Survey throughout the year, every year, so the survey you received may be legitimate. If you are concerned, call the Bureau directly at (800) 392-6975 to confirm that your survey is real.

With any survey, keep in mind that the Census Bureau will never ask for your social security number, your bank account and/or credit card information, or any logins/usernames/password information. Also beware of surveys that ask for personal identifiers, such as the name of your mortgage company or the name of your bank. The Bureau does not currently conduct surveys through email or over the internet, so any online survey claiming to be part of the Census is fraudulent.

Email or internet scams regarding the census should be reported to ITSO.Fraud.Reporting@census.gov. Mail scams should be reported to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

How will the census happen?

In March 2010, the Census Bureau will mail or otherwise deliver the questionnaire to your household. If you do not respond to the initial mailing by April 1, 2010, a second form will be sent. If that form is not returned, you can expect a call or a visit from a census worker.

Keep in mind that the better the initial mailback response is, the less money the federal government will need to spend on administering the census and the more accurate the data collected are likely to be. According to Census Bureau Director Robert Groves, the Bureau would save $80 - $90 million for every one percent of households that mail back their census forms.

In 2000, Kenosha County had an overall final response rate of 74%, ranging from 60% in Twin Lakes to 79% in Pleasant Prairie.

What does the census do with personal information?

Data collected by the Census Bureau are kept strictly confidential. It is illegal (under Title 13 of the U.S. Code, Section 9) for the Census Bureau or its employees to share your personal information with anyone, including other government agencies such as the IRS, Welfare, Immigration, or law enforcement.

Census information is only publicly released 72 years after the date of collection, at which time individual census records are sent to the National Archives where they are made public primarily for genealogical research.