Counting on being counted: Google Maps tracks census participation

Dear Council, Yellow Springs News and YS Blog:

Below is a Wall Street Journal article about Google partnering with US Census Bureau.

Please encourage citizens to participate in the 2010 Census!

Best Regards and Be Counted!

-- Dan Carrigan
Yellow Springs, Ohio

----------------------------------------------------------

Google Map Lets Users Track Neighborhood Census Participation

By Jean Spencer

Google and the U.S. Census Bureau unveiled a new online mapping feature Wednesday that tracks national Census participation rates and allows users to compare their neighborhood’s rate to those of other communities across the nation. Link to map: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/

The idea in part is to increase national response rates by fostering a feeling of friendly competition among different areas, Census director Robert Groves said, adding that the tool also increases awareness of the Census in general. On the Census site, users can scroll and click to access daily updates broken down by state, county, city and ZIP code. Users can zoom down to track how well neighborhoods are responding.

As of Thursday, 20% of the 120 million Census forms delivered to households last week are turned in, according to a colorful pop-up graphic on the Google map. “We are off to a pretty good start,” Dr. Groves said during a demonstration to reporters Wednesday. He said the early 2010 response rates are matching or surpassing 2000 rates.

As of Thursday, Montana, Iowa and Wisconsin held the highest rates. But that number will fluctuate as millions of Census forms are received. Leighton, Iowa, which had a population of 153 in the 2000 Census, now has the highest return rate among cities and towns, with 75%.

The information is updated daily at 4 p.m. EDT, from data collected and verified from the day before. In other words, the public has access to yesterday’s rates, today. Only official Census forms returned by mail are included in the percentages. Data collected by personal interviews, such as in rural counties in Alaska, are omitted.