Remember the 2020 Census? It seems like forever ago in this topsy turvy world, but it was just last year (April through October) that everyone in the U.S. was asked to complete the short questionnaire to determine how many people live here. Despite the many challenges wrought by the pandemic, our state achieved a higher self-response rate for the 2020 Census than in 2010! The fruits of our labor paid off – and when I say “our” I’m referring to every single person and group who completed the census or encouraged others to do so.

In April, the Census Bureau released the apportionment results, which told us Kentucky’s total population is now 4,505,836, a growth of 3.8% since the 2010 Census. And last Thursday, the Bureau released the redistricting files, which enables us to determine the child population.

Based on the 2020 Census, there are now 1,021,936 children ages 0-17 living in Kentucky. We have posted this child population data for each Kentucky county, disaggregated by race/ethnicity, on the KIDS COUNT Data Center – where you can create charts and maps. As you can see in the chart below, Kentucky’s child population remains predominantly non-Hispanic White, though one-quarter are children of color (a term that includes Hispanic/Latinx children, children who identify as a race other than White, and children who identify as White in combination with another race).

Since the August 12th release, there have been a flurry of media stories discussing how the demographics of this country have changed since the 2010 Census – many of which did not discuss why comparing changes in racial data should be done with caution and context. For that reason, we are not providing 2010 Census data by race to compare to. Instead, we’re continuing to focus on what our commonwealth can do to ensure every Kentucky child has equitable opportunities to thrive.

Stay tuned for a deep look on how to achieve that lofty goal with the November release of the 2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book.