2020 Census: Brookline Has Below-Average Response Rate

BROOKLINE, MA — It's been a rough year for the 2020 census. Amid pandemic, and social justice protests, residents of Brookline are responding to the federally mandated questionnaire, but are not doing as good a job of responding as neighboring communities. Officials who specialize in defending diversity and inclusion in town worry that could hurt Brookline.

In an effort to encourage more Brookline residents to respond to the Census, the Diversity, Inclusion & Community Relations Office is offering a month quiz about the census. Winners are put into a raffle to win a small prize.

The coronavirus pandemic prompted U.S. Census Bureau officials to suspend field operations through mid-April and then extend the deadline until Aug. 14 to get responses. According to the Census Bureau's self-response map, 62.8 percent of U.S. households have responded to this year's census either online, by phone or by mail. In Massachusetts 64.9 percent of residents have responded. Cambridge, Newton and Waltham all have a higher response rate than in Brookline, where only 60.2 percent of homes have responded. Only Boston with a rate of 53.3 percent is lower in the area.

In 2010, the last Census, Brookline's population - then estimated to be around 58,732 - made up of 74.1 percent Caucasian,15.9 percent Asian, 7.8 percent Hispanic, 4.2 percent two or more races and 3.2 percent African American.

The U.S. Constitution mandates that a census be taken every 10 years to count all people— citizens and noncitizens alike— living in the United States. The law requires an accurate population count, which then serves as the basis for fair political representation. State population counts from the census are used to redraw congressional, state, and local district boundaries, the numbers are used to determine need (and thus funding) for new roads, hospitals, schools and infrastructure.

Advocates worry marginalized communities will suffer the most.

How other communities nearby are doing:

• In Westford 81 percent
• In Chelmsford 80.7 percent
• In Newton 77 percent
• In Waltham 63.5 percent
• In Cambridge 62.1 percent
• In Brookline 60.2 percent.
• In Boston 53.3 percent

Click here for the quiz.

Got to https://my2020census.gov/ to complete your census by Aug. 14.