Four in 10 Santa Monica households responded to the 2020 Census by Census Day, according to data the Census Bureau released Thursday.
The 2020 Census is the first decennial census that can be answered online, which means that households complying with stay at home orders can still be counted as long as they have a smartphone or computer and an internet connection. As of April 1, 41.3% of United States households and 37.2% of households in Los Angeles County had responded to the census. In L.A. County, 34.9% of households completed the census online.
Santa Monica’s 39.8% response rate is slightly higher than that of Los Angeles County as a whole, and almost all households responded online. But local response rates differ significantly by neighborhood.
Based on the average response rates of census tracts in each of the city’s eight neighborhoods, Sunset Park and Mid-City have the highest response rates at 47.6% and 42.9%, respectively. Northeast (42%), Wilmont (41.5%) and Ocean Park (40.3%) follow close behind.
Noma and Pico have average response rates within a few percentage points of each other, at 38% and 36.7%, respectively. Downtown trails other neighborhoods at 26%.
Some neighborhoods’ response rates do not correlate with the hard-to-count indexes the Census Bureau calculated earlier this year. Advocates across the country warn that low-income households and families of color will be undercounted in the census, which is used to calculate billions of dollars in federal funds for schools, housing, hospitals, roads and emergency services and how many seats each state gets in the House of Representatives.
In Santa Monica, downtown, Pico and a western portion of Wilmont had the highest hard-to-count indexes because they have a high proportion of renters, non-family households and multifamily housing. Parts of Mid-City, Wilmont and Ocean Park also had somewhat high indexes.
Noma, Sunset Park and Northeast were deemed less difficult to count, but Noma has a relatively low response rate so far.
The Census Bureau announced that it would suspend field operations until April 15 due to coronavirus and send out census takers in late May to count households that have not self-responded online or by mail, although officials said plans could change.
Households can access the census questionnaire at my2020census.gov with an ID code from the census invitation they received in the mail last week.
The final response deadline is August 14, but a coalition of dozens of mayors across the country, including Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown, are urging the Census Bureau to extend the deadline to September 30.
Santa Monica is continuing to conduct online outreach to residents to ensure a complete count, said city spokesperson Constance Farrell.
“We’re now even more focused on using digital platforms to get the word out about this vitally important action,” Farrell said. “With people at home, they can easily complete it online and in just ten minutes.”
madeleine@smdp.com
