MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Governor Kay Ivey — alongside the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) and Alabama Counts! — on Friday announced final participation results of Census 2020 for the state of Alabama. The census officially ended nationwide Thursday, Oct. 15.
Alabama finished with an overall household response rate of 99.9%, on par with 48 other U.S. states. Of this total, 63.5% were self-responding Alabamians – an improvement from the 62.5% self-response rate recorded in 2010. Across the state, 47 counties exceeded their 2010 self-response rate.
In addition to self-response rates recorded by internet, phone or mail, the remaining percentage of responses was gathered by door-to-door Census takers for households who did not participate in self-response.
Governor Ivey has led census efforts in alignment with ADECA and Alabama Counts! since April 2019 to ensure participation numbers statewide reflected a proper Alabama representation. At stake has continued to be adequate federal representation, continued community funding and ongoing economic development opportunities moving forward.
“Over the past several months, Alabamians have come together during these challenging times to complete their 2020 Census, heeding our messages about how vital this count would be to shaping the future of our state,” Ivey said. “We’re hopeful that the spirit of our citizens in this effort will translate into good news for Alabama down the road.”
The response rate includes only the percentage of households accounted for, not the number of people living in those households. The U.S. Census Bureau will release the total statewide population figures for the Alabama and all other states in the coming months, currently scheduled for Dec. 31. These figures will determine congressional reapportionment.
“Though this year has been challenging for everyone, Alabama Counts! is tremendously pleased that we fulfilled our goal of maximum participation among Alabama households in the 2020 Census,” said Kenneth Boswell, chairman of Alabama Counts and director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. “Alabama Counts! was a group effort of hundreds of people from organizations, governments and businesses throughout the state, and we thank them as well as the census workers for being key to the state reaching such a high participation level.”
Alabama counties reflecting the highest self-response rates were Shelby County at 77.8%, Madison County at 76.0% and Autauga County at 71.7%. Additionally, Macon County, which took home the title of Alabama Census Bowl Champion in September and $65,000 for its public-school system, finished at 52.5% for self-response.
For more information on the 2020 Census statewide efforts or to see a complete map of county response rates, visit https://alabama2020census.com.
