TEXAS and NEW MEXICO – The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced it would be adjusting the response deadline for the 2020 Census to September 30, 2020, a month sooner than previously announced. In response to this change in deadline, the Permian Strategic Partnership (PSP) is making a final push to maximize participation across the Permian Basin through its educational campaign, The Permian Counts.
“The decennial census is a momentous effort under normal circumstances. With the added complications presented by the coronavirus crisis, providing less time for residents to respond and for census takers to reach hard-to-count communities will have a significant impact on more rural regions like the Permian Basin,” said Tracee Bentley, president and CEO of the PSP. “We want to remind and encourage our communities to turn out for the census and finish strong.”
Compared to larger metropolitan areas like Dallas, Austin, Houston, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, response rates across the Permian Basin region, in Texas and New Mexico, are concerningly low, with many counties reporting less than a 55 percent response rate.