Rural Areas

Census 2000 Education Kit

Rural Areas

The Census undercount does not merely affect urban communities. Individuals living in rural areas are missed as well. And poor rural areas are missed to a greater degree than the country as a whole. The Census Bureau's plan for the 2000 Census is applied in the same manner, block by Census block, across the country, in urban and rural areas. Urban areas are not treated differently, nor do they receive any special treatment under the Census Bureau's plan. Rather, undercounts in both rural and urban communities will be substantially reduced through the Census Bureau's plan for the 2000 Census. Consider:

In the 1990 Census, rural renters were missed at a rate of 5.9 percent compared to the national average rate of 1.6 percent. Because individuals who rent homes are more likely than homeowners to be poor, the proportion of poor rural people who were missed was far greater than the nation as a whole. Ninety percent of the rural renters missed were White.
Individuals living in rural areas are especially difficult to count for several reasons. Many homes are very remote and therefore, inaccessible. Also, individuals living in rural areas tend to use post office boxes and/or general delivery addresses rather than individual home addresses, thereby making it difficult to collect Census forms. Efforts also are hampered by difficult-to-find addresses such as "rural routes" and post office box numbers.

1990 Undercount for Renters in Rural America: 5.92% Vs. Undercount National Average: 1.6% 90% of the rural renters missed were white

Accurate Decennial Census Data is Vital for Rural America

Census information is used to plan the building of tunnels, bridges, and roads. The data are used to help federal and local emergency management agencies assess the damage of tornadoes, floods and drought, and plan recovery assistance. Census data are used to help the Department of Veteran Affairs plan hospitals and nursing homes for veterans. And Census data help local governments and businesses plan future economic development by forecasting future demand for goods and services.

In the South, in 1990, the undercount of "white renters" was 6.23 percent, representing over 10 percent of the total national undercount. For American Indians living on reservations, the 1990 undercount was more than 12 percent;
The use of scientific methods to correct undercounting in the initial Census counts does not shift, or redistribute, population toward urban areas. In 1990, 75 percent of the population lived in urban areas, versus 25 percent in rural areas. Urban areas accounted for 80 percent of the undercount; rural areas for 20 percent Ð roughly the same ratio. If the 1990 Census had been adjusted, using statistical methods, to correct the undercount, the population counts would have been made more accurate in both urban and rural areas, leaving the distribution roughly the same.

A Number of Programs Critical to Rural Communities Rely on Accurate Census Information Census information is:

Needed to provide food to individuals, families, and institutions through the Food Donation Program;
Needed to finance business facilities and community development projects in rural areas. Loans are made by the Rural Business - Cooperative Service (RBS) to intermediaries to establish revolving loan funds for rural recipients under Intermediary Relending Programs;
Business and Industrial Loans - for improving, developing, or financing businesses and industries, creating jobs, and improving the economic and environmental climate in rural communities (including pollution abatement);
Used for assisting rural communities that have had a significant decline in the quantity or quality of drinking water to repair and replace rural water treatment facilities through the Emergency Community Water Assistance program;
Used to distribute funds through the Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grant Program - to improve and increase services available to women and children in rural areas by encouraging community involvement in preventing domestic violence and child abuse. Funding helps increase victims' access to treatment and counseling, and further strengthens the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence and child abuse cases;
Used to distribute funds through Rural Development Loans and Loan Guarantees - zero interest loans and grants for telephone and electric utilities to promote rural economic development and job creation;
Used to distribute funds through Rural Cooperative Development Grants - to improve the economic condition of rural areas through the development of new cooperatives and the improvement of existing cooperatives; and,
Used for low income and moderate-income rural residents to purchase, construct, repair, or relocate a dwelling and related facilities under the Very Low to Moderate Income Housing Loans program.