The Mayor’s Census Undercount Revealer powered by Energizing Health uncovers hundreds of millions of federal dollars lost over 10 years if the 2020 Census Count is incorrect

March 8, 2019, Austin, TX –  Tomorrow at Energizing Health at SXSW, January Advisors alongside Energizing Health will unveil the Mayor’s Census Undercount Revealer. This new data visualization tool is designed to predict the significant fiscal cost of a Census undercount in 2020.

The tool will be unveiled during a session entitled “Big Data and Innovations for Marginalized Groups” in which panelists will include chief data officer at the Department of Health and Human Services, Mona Siddiqui, and the City of Albuquerque Mayor, Tim Keller. In this session, panelists will discuss open data, including the 2020 census data, and review visualization tools that may both increase federal funding for marginalized communities and gage the social impact of undercounting.

This tool will empower community-based organizations, civic leaders, philanthropy, venture and startups to work together to use big data to fuel innovations for healthier communities.

“Many people don’t fully realize the long-term implications of an inaccurate census count,” said Jeff Reichman, principal at January Advisors. “If we don’t count even one percent of people, it will result in billions of dollars lost in federal funding.  This leads to a lack of government resources which directly impacts our community’s most vulnerable populations. These numbers don’t even represent the worst-case scenario, which is possible given the political climate.”

To demonstrate the use of the visualization tool, Reichman and his team at January Advisors, a data science consulting firm, calculated the estimated federal dollars lost over 10 years due to an inaccurate census count for 18 cities being represented at SXSW at the Civic I/O Mayors Summit.  The event unites mayors, futurists and business leaders on all sides to collectively develop innovative solutions for the entrenched societal and governmental issues facing their communities.

“Based on past census records coupled with the current political discourse, it is an inevitable truth that cities across the nation are facing an uphill battle to ensure the accuracy of Census 2020 data,” city of Austin mayor, Steve Adler. “This tool is the perfect example of an innovative resource civic leaders and community activists can leverage to identify regions at-risk for a census undercount and will allow communities to take actionable steps to further engage and clarify preconceived misnomers surrounding the census count.”

To calculate the potential federal dollars lost over 10 years, the tool pulls data from the Census Planning Database courtesy of the 2010 census.  Additionally, data surrounding the federal dollars lost per capita per state is sourced from George Washington University’s Institute of Public Policy’s report on “Estimating Fiscal Costs of a Census Undercount to States.”

City Name 1% of Population Federal Dollars Lost Per Capita Federal Dollars Lost in 1% Undercount (over 10 years)
Albuquerque, NM 6,436 $1,121 $72,150,250
Atlanta, GA 5,788 $708 $40,982,155
Austin, TX 11,178 $1,161 $129,773,097
Columbia, SC 2,598 $809 $21,017,254
Dallas, TX 16,187 $1,161 $187,930,838
Dayton, OH 2,291 $1,206 $27,624,033
Findlay, OH 556 $1,206 $6,703,551
Louisville, KY 3,259 $929 $30,280,198
Madison 3,174 $1,338 $42,465,845
Mesa, AZ 5,827 $887 $51,682,031
Miami, FL 5,101 $946 $48,258,393
Orlando, FL 4,925 $946 $46,588,797
Plano, TX 3,499 $1,161 $40,627,570
Reno, NV 2,860 $628 $17,958,288
Rochester Hills, MN 1,313 $954 $12,530,695
Santa Fe, NM 1,037 $1,121 $11,629,366
South Bend, IN 1,464 $929 $13,596,472
Tacoma, WA 2,609 $39 $1,017,627

Energizing Health at SXSW is a four-day event focused on creating opportunities for innovation, collaboration and the activation of initiatives aimed at eliminating systemic barriers and building healthier communities.

The SXSW Mayor’s Census Undercount Revealer tool will be available to cities across the country in the coming weeks. To learn more about the SXSW Mayor’s Census Undercount Revealer, visit https://imagine.health/census. 

About Energizing Health

Energizing Health is an organization launched in 2014 dedicated to collaborating with community, civic and industry leaders to create opportunities around new and better ways to keep people healthy. By convening educational summits including Energizing Health @ SXSW, the Health Equity Hackathon and Impact Pediatric Health, among others, with community members, policy makers and entrepreneurs, we reach populations that have been marginalized by discrimination and poverty.

About January Advisors

January Advisors is a data science firm. We work on projects in housing, education, Census 2020, environmental advocacy, social services, criminal justice reform, legal aid, disaster recovery, workforce development, opportunity zones, economic development, and smart cities.

Media Contact:

Christine Rashman
crashman@piercom.com
281-433-5067