Most of us think the Census is the once every ten year survey that gets filled out to take a count of people, but it’s actually so much more! As an organization that depends on accurate, timely, and thorough data, the Census is one of Kentucky Youth Advocates’ go-to sources for information.  

While the Census Bureau conducts a survey once every ten years (called the Decennial), it also evaluates the data, makes adjustments based on any errors, and plans for the deployment of the next Census. For instance, a recent survey was conducted to determine how users engage with the online format and mailed materials to help plan for the 2030 Census. It seems like that shouldn’t take long, but the work is continuously ongoing in between each Decennial Census.  

In addition, the Census Bureau has over 130 other surveys and programs that report on all sorts of information–school finances, business trends, workforce indicators, and community resilience estimates to name a few. These are all ongoing during and in between the Decennial Census. For a complete list, you can visit the Census website and explore all the surveys and programs available. To browse the actual data, visit the Data Portal.

The backbone of a lot of KYA’s data is from the American Community Survey. This survey is what is known as “rolling”, meaning that the data is collected year-round. It surveys a much smaller amount of the population than the Decennial Census, and the Decennial Census data is used to help “normalize” the data for the larger population. The data is released yearly, in one-year estimates and five-year estimates. One-year estimates are more current, but five-year estimates are often more reliable because they combine data from five years, resulting in a larger sample size.  

Another survey KYA uses is called the Small Area Health Insurance Estimates. This primarily looks at health insurance coverage status for counties on a yearly basis and is broken down by specific demographics like race and age. This survey also has an interactive tool that lets you visualize health insurance coverage rates; zooming in on the map will show county-level data.  

The Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates is also something we frequently use. This program is incredibly important, because it estimates income and poverty at the state, county, and school district level, which directs allocation and administration of federal funds to local governments. This program only provides data based on age, however, so detailed racial breakdown information is not available.  

Take Action 

Unfortunately, the Census Bureau has been underfunded for the past few decades, which has put in jeopardy the quality data that millions of people in the United States depend on, from researchers to local governments to business owners. 

To help advocates understand the Census Bureau and how they can advocate for it, Kentucky Youth Advocates created a Census Advocacy Toolkit. Use this toolkit to educate policymakers and people in your community about the steps we can take to ensure the Census Bureau has what it needs to get us the data, resources, and representation we need.