Hawaiʻi 2020 Census achieves 99.9% enumerated, but there’s still time to update household numbers due to COVID-19

News Release from City and County of Honolulu, October 7, 2020

HONOLULU – Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the City and County of Honolulu thank Oʻahu residents for their participation in the 2020 Census. Today’s total response rate report on the 2020 Census website shows that 99.9% of Hawaiʻi households have been enumerated, one of the top states in the country. The city also wants to inform residents that if their household count has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s still time to update their numbers. The 2020 Census self-response deadline has been extended to Oct. 31. A person can visit my2020census.gov and sign-in using their address to make necessary adjustments to their count.

According to the report, 62.9% of residents self-reported their census and 37.2% of responses were enumerated through Nonresponse Followup (NRFU). NRFU responses come through official census takers visiting households that hadn’t completed the 2020 Census on their own.

“A 99.9% completion means that almost every single household on Oʻahu and in our entire state responded to the 2020 Census. This means our islands were able to reach every community in an equitable way,” said Mayor Caldwell. “Every language barrier, economic barrier, and housing barrier were addressed by our local census leadership, committees and community groups. Thank you to every person who helped in this effort and all of our residents who completed the 2020 Census this year. Oʻahu and all Hawaiʻi residents will reap the benefits in terms of more robust federal support until the next census cycle 10 years from now.”

“The resilience of our community in completing this important project in the midst of a pandemic is an achievement that we can collectively take pride in,” said Managing Director Roy Amemiya.

The city would like to thank the enumeration team for their hard work visiting households through the COVID-19 pandemic to bring our state into the top percentile of enumerated states. The city also thanks local complete count committees and the diverse group of community players involved at the statewide level. This includes groups focused on kūpuna, the Pacific Island community, the homeless community, and the many people who speak English as a second language. Every census response will bring the necessary funds to help us recover, rebuild, and strengthen our position for resiliency moving forward.

The City and County of Honolulu created a 2020 Complete Count Committee with the goal of ensuring every city employee and their family is counted in the 2020 Census, outreaching and facilitating inclusion of key populations (kūpuna, homeless individuals, and the non-English speaking population), and to maximize the use of the new online option in completing the census. Some of the city’s efforts included producing a city-specific brochure for public distribution and a placard that was placed in city buses. Graphics can be downloaded at this link.

About the Census:

An accurate 2020 Census count ensures that our communities will be eligible to receive billions in federal program dollars to support our communities through hospital funding, fire department and other public safety needs, food assistance, and representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2016 alone, the Counting for Dollars 2020 study published by George Washington University reported that Hawaiʻi received $3.68 billion through 55 federally funded programs guided by data derived from the 2010 Census. This roughly equated to $2,500 per person counted at that time.

With over $675 billion in federal funding being distributed based on census results, a 1% error could cost Hawaiʻi at least $37 million a year for the next ten years. Thanks to census informed data, approximately $90 million in federal funds went towards roads and public transportation in rural areas in Hawaiʻi, and $45 million went to lunch programs in local schools each year from 2010 to 2020.

For more information, visit www.2020census.gov, or call (844) 330-2020.

—PAU—