US Census Response Rates on American Indian Reservations in the 2020 Census and in the 2010 Census
US Census Response Rates on American Indian Reservations in the 2020 Census and in the 2010 Census
Randall Akee
Paul Ong
Desi Rodriguez-LonebearMay 15, 2020
The U.S. Census is the backbone of the U.S. official statistics system. A decennial census is constitutionally mandated to determine proportional representation in Congress. It also provides population counts that are used to allocate public services and funding across the country, and to calculate vital statistics estimates. In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Census data are crucial for understanding case and death rates as well. Currently, the U.S. Census Bureau is undertaking its 24th Census amid one of the most difficult enumeration periods in history. While the country faces dual threats of an economic shutdown and the public health pandemic, the decennial census is underway.
As a result, U.S. Census response rates may not be the highest priority for the country’s citizens. In prior Censuses, low response rates impacted certain populations: racial and ethnic minorities, children, those in poverty, and the highly mobile. A critical remedy is the use of Census enumerators who make direct house calls to non-response households. However, in-person enumerators may not be as viable in the time of a pandemic due to health risks to Census workers and households.
In particular, American Indian and Alaska Native nations and communities have some of the highest Census non-response rates decade after decade. There are many reasons for low rates of participation, including non-standard mailing addresses, antipathy towards the U.S. Government, and lack of familiarity with the agency and purpose of the Census, among others. To evaluate current levels of Census response among American Indian communities, we examined real time response data from the U.S. Census.
In the figure below, we take the American Indian tribal reservation response data provided as of May 13, 2020 and compare it to the 2010 response rate. The size of the circles reflects the size of the population on reservation for the AIAN alone population. We exclude Oklahoma tribes and Alaska Natives in this analysis. Additionally, we exclude those tribal reservations that have no information or have a zero recorded as a response rate in either time period.
The gray diagonal line, at a 45-degree angle, represents an equal response rate in 2010 and 2020 at the tribal level. Bubbles that fall below the line indicate that the current Census response rate is behind the historical 2010 response rate. To some extent, this would be expected as Census enumeration will continue for the rest of the year. The red vertical line at 67% indicates the 2010 response rate for the U.S. as a whole. The horizontal red line indicates the current completion rate for the U.S. as a whole in 2020, which is at 60% currently.
There appears to be seven tribal reservations that have response rates greater than the current national average (they are above the red horizontal line). The rest of the tribal reservations appear to have response rates that are currently below the U.S. national average. Historically, the majority of tribal reservations were below the U.S. average response rate which is evidenced by the high number of bubbles to the left of the red vertical line at 67%. Finally, the majority of tribal reservations are below their 2010 Census response rates at the current time period as illustrated by the majority of bubbles positioned below the gray 45-degree line.
The low self-response rate during the first phase of the 2020 Census will create major challenges for the second phase, the non-response follow-up in-person interviews. Low self-response means many more labor-intensive contacts will be needed, which is particularly difficult during the pandemic. Ultimately, this may produce a significant undercount of American Indians. It is critical that we act now to reduce the response gap as much as possible and to use updated information on the location and magnitude of the gap to more effectively guide outreach efforts in the near future. Partnerships with tribal nations to ensure full and accurate counts of American Indians on reservation lands are critical.
For further questions or inquiries please contact: Randall Akee, rakee@ucla.edu.
The list below provides the information as of May 13, 2020 for response rates on American Indian reservations for the 2020 US Census. We have matched it, where possible, to the 2010 Census Response rates. These data are all publicly available from the U.S. Census Bureau online: https://data.world/uscensusbureau/2020-census-response-rate-data.
Table of U.S. Census Response Rates for American Indian Tribes for the 2010 and 2020 Censuses as of May 13, 2020.
Tribe Name2020 Census Response Rate as of May 13, 2020 2010 Census Final Response Rate Yomba
0 Los Coyotes
0 33.3 Mashpee Wampanoag
0 25 Passamaquoddy
0 0 Grindstone
0 40.8 Stewarts Point
0 0 Mesa Grande
0 Havasupai
0 Hopi
0.4 San Carlos
0.5 Big Cypress
0.6 Navajo Nation
0.7 29.4 Chemehuevi
0.9 Onondaga Nation
1.7 Gila River
1.8 Santo Domingo
1.9 Bridgeport
2.3 76.2 Kaibab
2.4 Rosebud
2.6 37.7 Fort Apache
3 Red Lake
3.1 0 Hollywood
3.2 Jicarilla Apache Nation
3.2 0 Northern Cheyenne
3.2 Benton Paiute
3.4 35.5 Crow
3.5 80 Lac Vieux Desert
3.6 45.3 Immokalee
3.8 La Jolla
3.8 0 XL Ranch
3.8 40 Soboba
4 Tohono O'odham Nation
4.2 45.1 Moapa River
4.2 Santa Ysabel
4.3 Pine Ridge
4.3 Timbi-Sha Shoshone
4.5 Rincon
4.5 Brighton
4.7 South Fork
4.8 33.3 Cheyenne River
4.9 50 Table Mountain
5 Fort Belknap
5.1 Pechanga
5.2 Iowa (KS-NE)
5.2 Lower Brule
5.4 0 Torres-Martinez
5.6 Round Valley
5.7 27.9 Fort Yuma
5.8 Indian Township
5.9 37.9 San Pasqual
5.9 Cahuilla
5.9 Turtle Mountain
6.1 62.5 Crow Creek
6.2 Pauma and Yuima
6.3 Goshute
6.3 Pala
6.5 Santa Rosa
6.5 Fort Pierce
6.5 Blackfeet
6.6 71.4 Laguna
6.9 Hoopa Valley
7.2 Zuni
7.2 0 Hualapai
7.4 21.4 Tonto Apache
7.5 25 Yavapai-Apache Nation
7.6 1.4 Acoma
7.9 43.3 Santee
8.2 Lone Pine
8.3 Yavapai-Prescott
8.3 Picuris
8.4 53.6 Duck Valley
8.4 Yurok
8.8 Pleasant Point
9.3 59.6 Fort Bidwell
9.3 43.5 Menominee
9.4 Isleta
9.5 50 Wells
9.7 48.1 Colorado River
9.8 Fort Berthold
9.8 Tuscarora Nation
9.9 50 Annette Island
10.1 53.1 Flandreau
10.1 41.2 Coushatta
10.3 37.8 Rocky Boy's
10.3 Cocopah
10.5 Spirit Lake
10.6 Manchester-Point Arena
10.7 0 Fort McDermitt
10.7 Manzanita
10.8 Ohkay Owingeh
10.9 50 Standing Rock
11.1 Tuolumne
11.1 9.8 Oneida Nation
11.4 54.5 San Felipe
11.8 Uintah and Ouray
11.9 33.3 Winnemucca
11.9 22.2 Bois Forte
12.6 54.8 St. Regis Mohawk
12.6 31.9 Big Pine
12.8 Zia
13.2 Spokane
13.4 Mescalero
13.4 100 Makah
13.7 Taos
13.8 34.2 Fort Peck
14 Tesuque
14 50 Laytonville
14.5 5.8 Santa Clara
14.7 33.3 Eastern Cherokee
14.8 12.8 Walker River
14.8 Picayune
15 Grand Portage
15.1 Ute Mountain
15.2 27.6 Lac du Flambeau
15.2 Leech Lake
15.5 33.3 Big Sandy
15.7 0 Warm Springs
15.9 35.8 Duckwater
16.3 Poarch Creek
16.8 50 Jemez
16.8 White Earth
16.9 76.9 Santa Ana
17 Winnebago
17.4 Yankton
17.4 59.1 Lovelock
17.5 Wampanoag-Aquinnah
17.5 Colville
17.7 Lake Traverse
18.4 49.2 Karuk
18.4 53.1 Rumsey
18.8 46.2 Kickapoo (TX)
18.9 0 Sac and Fox Nation
19 Kalispel
19 34.5 Shingle Springs
19.2 32 Redding
19.2 38.5 Campo
19.3 Fort Hall
19.3 Sokaogon Chippewa
19.8 North Fork
20 Pyramid Lake Paiute
20 Tonawanda
20.2 Battle Mountain
20.5 Quinault
21.1 44.7 Chitimacha
21.2 60.5 Mashantucket Pequot
21.8 11 Viejas
21.8 Cattaraugus
21.9 33.5 Susanville
22.2 44.7 Lac Courte Oreilles
23 San Ildefonso
23.5 0 Omaha
23.7 Trinidad
23.9 19 Pojoaque
24.1 43.1 Santa Ynez
24.1 47.1 Sandia
24.3 100 Santa Rosa
24.7 Nambe
24.9 83.3 Upper Lake
25.6 25.6 Tule River
25.7 48.6 San Manuel
26.2 50 Upper Skagit
26.3 44.3 Wind River
26.6 0 Blue Lake
27 0 St. Croix
27.6 Osage
28.2 62.5 Big Valley
28.3 14.6 Morongo
28.4 0 Berry Creek
28.6 52.5 Ysleta del Sur
28.6 78.7 Smith River
28.6 43.9 Cabazon
28.6 Kickapoo (KS)
28.8 33.3 Cow Creek
28.9 39.3 Hoh
29 43.3 Southern Ute
29.3 46.7 Robinson
29.5 12.5 Cold Springs
30 Klamath
30.8 5.6 Fort Mojave
30.9 Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation
31 100 Ho-Chunk Nation
31.3 47.2 Burns Paiute
31.7 36 Yerington
31.8 Tunica-Biloxi
32.4 53.8 Barona
32.6 Dresslerville
32.7 11.1 Rohnerville (Rancheria)
32.7 22.2 Hopland
32.9 37.5 Bad River
33 Paiute (UT)
33.3 44 Cochiti
33.6 Mille Lacs
34.1 26.9 Chehalis
34.5 25 Prairie Island
35.2 38.5 Fort Independence
35.2 Houlton Maliseet
36.3 33.3 Coeur d'Alene
36.3 100 Guidiville
36.4 Flathead
36.8 33.3 Huron Potawatomi
37 85 Las Vegas
37.5 48 Maricopa (Ak Chin)
37.6 Sac and Fox/Meskwaki
37.7 Pascua Pueblo Yaqui
38.3 100 Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation
38.3 Aroostook Band of Micmac
38.4 40.2 Quileute
38.4 33.8 Salt River
38.5 51.4 Elk Valley
38.6 65.8 Mississippi Choctaw
38.8 36.2 Penobscot
39 0 Sauk-Suiattle
39.1 30 Bishop
39.9 Little River
40.2 77.8 Reno-Sparks
40.6 100 Sycuan
41.3 0 Skokomish
41.4 44.4 Hannahville
41.7 56.1 Allegany
41.8 55.8 Siletz
41.9 50.6 Nez Perce
42.4 68.3 Pinoleville
43.4 47.8 Sherwood Valley
43.9 34.3 Carson
44 Upper Sioux
44.3 29.4 Coyote Valley
44.4 0 Alabama-Coushatta
44.6 41.9 Grand Ronde
44.7 52.7 Yakama Nation
45 58.1 Nooksack
45.1 37.3 Squaxin Island
45.3 38.3 Woodfords
45.3 Grand Traverse
45.6 55.2 Quartz Valley
45.8 50 Lower Sioux
46 Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
46 48.9 Agua Caliente
46.8 52 Lower Elwha
47.8 46.7 Catawba
47.8 60.5 Fallon Paiute-Shoshone
47.8 0 Campbell
49 Umatilla
49.1 59.5 Lummi
49.2 57.6 Elko
49.5 Redwood Valley
50.5 64.8 Mooretown
50.8 76.3 Shoalwater Bay
51.2 61.5 Little Traverse Bay
51.2 46.9 Nisqually
51.2 56.3 Table Bluff
52.6 38.2 Stewart
52.9 0 Muckleshoot
53.2 58.2 Colusa
53.3 37 Bay Mills
54.6 56.7 L'Anse
54.8 65.7 Fallon Paiute-Shoshone
54.9 Coquille
55 65 Celilo
55 6.7 Ely
55.2 76.5 Tulalip
55.9 63.6 Fond du Lac
56.8 67.2 Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw
57.5 57.9 Mohegan
57.5 46.9 Swinomish
57.8 61.2 Port Madison
59.3 52.1 Washoe Ranches
60.2 71.4 Kootenai
60.6 52.4 Puyallup
66.2 72.3 Isabella
67.6 75.1 Pokagon
70.7 67.6 Port Gamble
74.8 53.1 Oneida (WI)
75.8 85
Posted May 15, 2020, 2:49 PST
