Clayton Ranks High in Census Participation

Clayton residents came forward to be counted in the recent 2010 National Census at a much higher rate than the national average, and even beat the participation rates of Johnston County and the state as a whole, according to an announcement from the Census Bureau.

The participation rate here was 82 percent, easily topping the national rate of 74 percent. The North Carolina rate was 76 percent, which was marginally better than the national rate, and the Johnston County rate was even better at 78 percent.

"I'm very proud of our community," said Councilman Butch Lawter. "Of course, I would like to see 100 percent participation, but the people and organizations who worked for a high participation rate did very well."

The national participation rate 10 years ago in year 2000 was also 74 percent.

State and federal money to local municipalities is largely based on population figures, and changes after each 10-year census. Other important uses for census date includes:

• determining how many seats the state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives
• guiding officials on community planning, such as where to build new roads, schools and more
• guiding the private sector on where to build new shopping centers, housing and other facilities

"The town stands to lose at least $400 in federal funding for each resident that goes uncounted," said Mayor Jody McLeod. "If you do the math, you begin to see why it's so important for every single resident to be counted."

Approximately 47 million households that did not mail back a census form by the deadline were visited by census takers in person as part of a series of operations and methods to ensure as complete a count as possible, including many in Clayton. The Census Bureau either received a form or attempted repeated visits to 100 percent of the identified housing units in the country, Bureau officials reported.

“As the law requires, we look forward to reporting to the nation by Dec. 31 the national and state populations as well as the allocation of seats to each state in the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves.