Miami is last in responding to 2020 Census, study finds. Could it be the pandemic?
Turns out Miami time even applies to responding to the Census.
A study published this week found Miami had the slowest self-response rate among the 50 most-populous cities, according to personal finance company SmartAsset.
As of May 4, Miami’s Census response rate of 42.1% ranked dead last. Jacksonvillle had the 16th-highest rate at 57.3%. Tampa’s 54% rate put it at No. 30.
Florida, as a whole, wasn’t much better. The Sunshine State tied with Rhode Island for the 19th lowest response rate.
Researchers determined each rate using data directly from the Census Bureau. Then they divided the number of households that submitted their Census by “the estimated total number of households in each area,” according to the study’s methodology.
Miami-time joke aside, the coronavirus pandemic likely provides the best explanation for Miami’s slow response rate.
Places that have seen large outbreaks, including New York City, Detroit and Boston, all ranked alongside Miami in the bottom 10. In fact, 8 of those 10 represent one of the 50 counties with the highest number of confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins’ COVID-19 map.
As of Friday afternoon, Miami-Dade has the 18th-highest number of confirmed cases in the country, Johns Hopkins’ map shows.
Louisville, Seattle and San Jose, Calif., were three cities with the highest response rate, respectively. Similarly, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa lead all states.
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 4:48 PM.
