Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette A sign on the Hancock side of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge reminds people to fill out their census forms. The census will be used to direct billions of dollars in federal funds, help the community prepare for transportation and emergency readiness, and determine political districts at the federal, state and local level.

HOUGHTON — So far, the local response rates for the U.S. census fall below the state average. 

If the trend continues, it could have an adverse effect on how much state and federal money comes back to the area, said Glenn Anderson, 2020 census Complete Count committee chair for Houghton County. 

Michigan has a 32.8% completion rate as of Friday, versus a national response rate of 28.1%. Houghton County trails both at 22.8%, but still has the highest completion rate in the Copper Country. Behind Houghton is Baraga County (21.8%), Ontonagon County (17.8) and Keweenaw County (6.6%). 

For the first time, the census can be completed online, at 2020census.gov. Mailers were sent out to households earlier this month inviting them to respond online by April 1 at my2020census.gov. 

“The hope was at least a significant majority of Americans would go online and do it if they had access to the internet,” Anderson said. 

Those efforts were complicated by the lack of universal broadband access, Anderson said. About 20% of people in Houghton County do not have broadband internet. And the COVID-related closure of libraries and other public places has cut off many of those people’s alternate means of using it. 

The 12-question survey includes information such as how many people are living at the residence, whether the person owns or rents their home, and the ages of the people living there.

Those who do not fill out the form online will receive a paper questionnaire in April. If they do not respond to the questionnaire, census workers will make a follow-up visit to their residence. 

That information can make a big difference to the area, Anderson said. In Michigan, each person who is counted is worth about $2,000 per person over the next 10 years in direct financial payments to local governments — everything from snowplowing to parks and recreation services. That doesn’t include state or federal grants, which also rely on census data.

“Obviously, if we’re undercounted, we’re leaving that money on the table for some other community to get that money somewhere in the country,” Anderson said. 

About $30 billion a year is distributed across Michigan each year on a per-capita basis, Anderson said. Federally, it’s $675 billion, not counting the new COVID-19 stimulus bill. That includes Medicare Part D, Medicaid, road funding and more. 

A large portion of municipalities’ road funding is determined by their population numbers, Anderson said. 

The 2020 census is also used to redraw boundaries for political districts in 2022. Michigan has 14 U.S. House of Representatives districts, a number that has been going down for the past 30 years, Anderson said. 

The boundaries for the state House and Senate, as well as county board districts, are also drawn based on population. 

“That’s all part of the accurate census we’re trying to get accomplished,” Anderson said.