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The U.S. Census Bureau plans to release the latest state population counts by April 30, 2021. These numbers, the first results from the 2020 Census, are used to determine how many congressional seats each state has in the House of Representatives. We've received a lot of questions about the upcoming release. I recently spoke to Rebecca Tippett, the founding director of Carolina Demography, about the upcoming release and what's expected to happen in North Carolina.…
A poll released last month by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicated that a growing number of people in the United States indicate that they have or will receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But there are still many people who are hesitant to get the vaccine. The CDC recently released an interactive map estimating how hesitant areas are across the United States to receive the vaccine. The map estimates the population that…
Demographic data is useful to a wide variety of organizations, ranging from nonprofits to businesses to government. Knowing the statistical characteristics of a population is key to future planning, making public policy decisions, and for organizations to know how to best reach and serve their intended audience(s). Through my work at Carolina Demography, I have become interested in how different industries use demographic data in their daily work. I recently had the pleasure of getting…
On March 15, 2021, Stacey Carless, the Executive Director of the NC Counts Coalition, and I presented at the 2021 Rural Summit. We provided a detailed look into trends impacting North Carolina, an overview of the 2020 Census and redistricting, and highlighted how to use census and census-derived data in community planning. You can download a pdf of our presentation. During the Q&A session, we were asked questions about the Census and demographic data. The…
It has been a little over a year since the pandemic shut down workplaces and schools across North Carolina. In this post, we detail what Carolina Demography has learned about the pandemic’s effect on the educational system in NC. First, let’s start with a short timeline: On March 15, 2020, NC Governor Roy Cooper signed an executive order to close all K-12 public schools for a minimum of two weeks. During the next three weeks,…
The following post is an email message we received from Bob Coats, Governor's Census Liaison at the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, regarding the proposed changes to address how urban areas will be identified after the 2020 Census data are released and how metropolitan statistical areas will be defined. This email has been lightly edited and posted here with his approval. You can read what the recommendations are and how this will…
Two recently published Federal Register Notices address how urban areas will be identified after the 2020 Census data are released and how metropolitan areas will be defined. In this post, we detail what the recommendations are, and how that will impact communities in North Carolina. Changing metropolitan definition would impact 3 NC metros Federal Register notice: Recommendations from the Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Standards Review Committee to the Office of Management and Budget Concerning…
Way back in 2019, which now seems like eons ago, I wrote a column for Vox about the importance of the upcoming 2020 Census. It started off like this: “For demographers like me, the census is kind of like our Super Bowl, if the Super Bowl only took place once a decade — and if the foundation of your representative democracy hinged on the winner of the game.” The 2020 Census kicked off its nationwide…
Across the country, fewer students are showing up in traditional public schools because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We have looked at attendance data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to understand how declines in enrollment vary across the state and which grades are impacted. How much is school attendance down? Statewide, nearly 63,000 fewer students were attending public schools in Month 2 of 2020-21 compared to 2019-20, a loss of -4.4%. Public…
Residents and employees of nursing homes and similar long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are more vulnerable to COVID-19 related illness and death than the general population. In fact, nationally 38% of COVID-19 deaths have been associated with LTCFs. Because of this, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that individuals in LTCFs be prioritized in COVID-19 vaccination distribution plans. In North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s vaccination rollout plan, he included long-term care residents and staff along with…
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