LOGAN SQUARE — The city is tracking how many Chicagoans have filled out the 2020 census — and so far, the numbers out of Logan Square, Humboldt Park and Avondale aren’t very good.
Every Illinois resident not counted in the 2020 census will cost Illinois between $1,400 and $1,800 per year over 10 years, according to Illinois Census Director Oswaldo Alvarez.
“Illinois only had a 70 percent response rate in 2010 and each year the state has gotten about $34 billion just based on our census count. Just imagine if everyone in the state had been counted 10 years ago,” Alvarez said.
Ignoring the survey, which takes about 10 minutes to fill out online, means your neighborhood won’t get its fair share of more than $675 billion per year in federal funds spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works and other programs.
In the 1st Ward, which includes all or parts of Logan Square, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Humboldt Park and West Town, the response rate is 47.5 percent — almost the same as the citywide rate, which is currently 47.4 percent, according to city data.
The 35th Ward, which includes parts of Logan Square, Hermosa, Avondale Irving Park and Albany Park, has a response rate of about 43 percent.
The 26th Ward, which includes parts of Humboldt Park, West Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Hermosa and West Town, has a response rate of about 40 percent.
In the 31st Ward, which includes parts of Logan Square, Hermosa and Belmont Cragin, the response rate is about 39 percent.
All four wards rank among the middle to lowest response rates in the city.
The Northwest Side ward with the highest response rate is the 32nd Ward, which includes Bucktown, Logan Square, Lincoln Park and Roscoe Village. About 53 percent of households in the 32nd Ward have completed the census, according to city data.
About 48 percent of households in the 33rd Ward have responded to the census. The 33rd Ward includes parts of Avondale, Albany Park, Ravenswood Manor and Irving Park.
The U.S. Census Bureau uses the form to count the country’s entire population every decade as mandated by the constitution. The decennial count is important because it determines federal funding for things like education, child care, workforce training and health care across the state. It also determines the number of political representatives each state gets.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker at an April 1 press conference said the the state risks losing $195 million per year for each 1 percent of the population undercounted.
Illinois is also projected to lose at least one downstate congressional seat due to population loss.
“An undercount in 2020 can lead to us losing even more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Alvarez said. “Count yourself in the census so you have more of a voice in both your local and federal governments.”
As of Tuesday, Illinois ranked ninth for states with the highest response rates, with 58.7 percent, which is higher than the current nationwide response rate of 53.7 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
State and city officials have long urged Chicagoans to fill out the census but now are limited in their outreach efforts because of the pandemic.
The Tribune found that some Latino neighborhoods are struggling to keep up with other neighborhoods because of the digital divide and because of deportation fears, even though the form does not ask about citizenship. This is the first year households are able to fill out the questionnaire electronically; households are still able to fill it out by mail or phone.
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