Errors in the 2020 Census: How and When Tennessee Communities Can Request a Decennial Count Review

The August 2021 release of the 2020 Census Redistricting Data was anticipated by counties and municipalities across the state. The data are used for legislative redistricting and assessing a decade of population shifts. But, the decennial census numbers are also used to allocate a portion of state revenues to local governments making a review of their quality an equally important post-release activity.

Processing errors can occur in every decennial census. These include missed housing units, population allocated the wrong place and municipal boundary errors. Sometimes there is a wider perception of undercounts in a community. When these issues are encountered, how can they be addressed?

The Tennessee State Data Center, housed in UT's Boyd Center for Business & Economic Research, lined up three speakers to help communities learn about the avenues available to address issues with their 2020 census counts and gauge the potential benefit of doing so. These include a review the Census Bureau’s 2020 census challenge program, the State of Tennessee’s Special Census Program and annual revenue projections useful in estimating per capita state-shared revenues.