Hard to count scores and non-response rates

Research by the Census Bureau has identified twelve variables that are correlated with a high non-response rate during a census. Hard-to-count areas, also called hard-to-enumerate (HTE) areas, have high percentages of:

• Vacant housing units
• Multi-family housing units
• Renter occupied housing units
• Occupied housing units with more than 1.5 persons per room
• Households that are not husband/wife families
• Occupied housing units with no telephone service
• Adults that are not high school graduates
• People below poverty
• Households with public assistance income
• People unemployed
• Linguistically isolated households
• Occupied housing units where the householder recently moved into the unit

All census tracts in the U.S. have been assigned a hard-to-count score, with scores ranging from 0 to 132. High scores indicate high concentrations of attributes that make enumeration difficult, increasing the likelihood of an undercount. You can improve the accuracy and completeness of the census in your community by identifying hard-to-count areas and helping residents understand that participating in the census is important, easy, and safe.