Oxford is falling behind in the race to finish the headcount for the decade, according to data from the 2020 Census Bureau. As of Aug. 19, 42.3% of Oxford citizens had completed a self-response, trailing the county, state and national average.
The due date was pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the bureau has already deployed Census takers into the community. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said in a statement that the bureau made many changes in order to ensure the safety of these deployed employees.
“We are taking steps and adapting our operations to make sure everyone is counted, while keeping everyone safe,” he said. “Our commitment to a complete and accurate 2020 Census is absolute. In this challenging environment, we are deploying these tactics to make sure we reach every household in every community.”
Mississippi is in the bottom 20% in the United States for self-responses, coming in at 42nd. Census data says that 840,000 households have responded so far, but that still leaves another 41.6% of the state left unaccounted for.
To complete the census, residents must file self-responses to where they lived in April of this year, meaning most University of Mississippi students should file as living in Oxford, including those who lived in residence halls or Greek housing. The census can be taken online, by phone or by mail.
Students have until the end of September to fill out their self-responses.
This headcount of students is a deciding factor that determines how much federal funding the community will receive over the next 10 years, and this funding is used for infrastructure such as roads, public transit and health centers.
“College students will come into these communities and certainly they’ll use the services, they’ll have an impact on that town,” Evan Curtis, state planning coordinator, said. “We want to make sure for planning purposes that we understand the makeup of our communities.”
