Latinos were undercounted by 5% in the latest census

Even though halted by the Supreme Court, the Trump administration’s proposed citizenship question on the 2020 Census appears to have had the feared impact of undercounting Latinos.      

The Census Bureau released a statement on the undercount of Latinos and other groups.  Black, Latino and American Indian residents were undercounted in Census 2020 at higher rates than a decade ago, the U.S. Census Bureau said.

Here is the Bureau of the Census statement on the undercount:  Census Bureau Releases Estimates of Undercount and Overcount in the 2020 Census. According to the Census, “[t]he Black or African American alone or in combination population had a statistically significant undercount of 3.30%.  This is not statistically different from the 2.06% undercount in 2010.”  In addition, 

• The Hispanic or Latino population had a statistically significant undercount rate of 4.99%. This is statistically different from a 1.54% undercount in 2010.
• American Indian or Alaska Native alone or in combination populations living on reservations show a statistically significant undercount rate of 5.64%. This was not statistically different from a 4.88% undercount in 2010. The American Indian or Alaska Native population alone or in combination living in American Indian areas, but not living on reservations, was not statistically different from zero in 2020 or 2010.
• The non-Hispanic White alone population had a statistically significant overcount rate of 1.64%. This is statistically different from an overcount of 0.83% in 2010.
• The Asian alone or in combination population had an overcount rate of 2.62%. This is statistically different from 0.00% in 2010.
• The Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination population had an estimated overcount rate of 1.28%. This rate is not different from an estimated 1.02% overcount rate in 2010. Both are not statistically different from zero.

KJ