TEXARKANA - Locals responded to the 2020 Census at lower rates than the whole of Arkansas, Texas or the U.S., according to the Census Bureau.
The rate of Texarkana, Arkansas, residents who responded to the Census on their own was 59.6% when counting ended Oct. 15, higher than the Miller County rate of 55.9% but lower than Arkansas' statewide rate of 60.6%. Texarkana, Texas' self-response rate was 59%, lower than Bowie County's 60.2% rate and Texas' 62.8% rate.
The national self-response rate was 67%, slightly higher than the 66.5% self-response rate recorded in 2010. But between self-responses and follow-up activities, the Census Bureau counted the people in 99.98% of U.S. households, it announced Monday.
"Over 99.9 percent of addresses have been resolved in 49 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The remaining state, Louisiana, was 99.0 percent complete as of October 16," the Bureau stated in a document published Monday.
To count those who did not respond to the Census questionnaire, the Bureau used a combination of knocking on doors to interview residents, interviewing proxy residents such as neighbors and reviewing administrative records.
Interviewing a member of the household made up the majority, 62%, of follow-up activity. Proxy interviews made up 24.1% of follow-up counting, and using records made up 13.9%.
Work remains to process the collected data, eliminate any duplication in the count and deliver final results by the end of the year.
"Hundreds of millions of people were counted in the 2020 Census, and statisticians and data quality experts are now busy making sure everyone was counted once, only once, and in the right place. The Census Bureau will use the best methodologies available to resolve the very small number of unresolved addresses and to ensure that our data products are accurate," Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said.