US Census Response Rates on American Indian Reservations in the 2020 Census and in the 2010 Census

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US Census Response Rates on American Indian Reservations in the 2020 Census and in the 2010 Census

Randall Akee
Paul Ong
Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear

May 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.
scatter_tribal_response.pdf

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 Name
2020 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