Oklahoma State Representative Brad Boles (R-51) recently wrote in the Duncan Banner encouraging rural Oklahomans to respond to the 2020 Census.
“For Oklahomans who are not counted, our state loses an estimated $1,675 per person per year. Over the next decade, that’s almost $17,000 lost money for every individual not counted in the census. Instead, that money will be appropriated to other states. Undercounting just 2% of the population would put Oklahoma at risk of losing about $1.8 billion in federal funding throughout the next decade. Those billions of dollars, which would go directly into our schools, roads, healthcare and public safety services, could instead be sent to another state.”
Oklahoma’s overall self-response rate is currently about 57.8 percent, below the national average of 63.2 percent, but most of Oklahoma’s rural counties are well under 40-50 percent.
The Census Project 