Census releases 'flawed' figures - More than 45,500 Hoosiers may not have been counted

Ron Shawgo
Journal Gazette
December 7, 2002

The 2000 census head count missed an estimated 45,526 Hoosiers, according to controversial adjusted figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Of the estimated 1,749 Allen County residents who were undercounted, four of five were minorities, most of them black. For most other northeast Indiana counties, the population change was minimal.

Even as it released the data, the Census Bureau cautioned against using the new numbers, calling the adjusted estimates "severely flawed."

The controversy surrounds statistical techniques used to correct errors. While Democrats generally supported release of the adjusted data, Republicans opposed it.

The Bush administration declined to release the numbers until a federal appeals court last month ordered them to be disclosed.

The adjustments can be important to urban areas with high numbers of low-income families and children, who are more likely to be missed during the head count.

Census figures are used to redraw political districts and distribute $185 billion in federal money a year.

More than $250 million of the federal aid Indiana received in 2000, including money for children's health care, was based at least in part on population.

Of Allen County's estimated 1,749 residents who were not counted, 1,000 were black. In addition, an estimated 401 Hispanics, who can be of any race, were not counted.

All but about 25 of the county's uncounted residents lived in Fort Wayne, according to the census figures.

Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard said the undercount does not appear to be significant, and the federal money involved likely would be minimal.

"It is important to us, but it probably doesn't have the impact it does for a larger metropolitan area," he said.

Fort Wayne drew new City Council district boundaries last summer based on 2000 census numbers. City Councilman Tim Pape, D-5th, said he would like to study the adjusted data to see whether redistricting should be revisited.

Nationally, an estimated 3.3 million people - particularly renters, Hispanics and poor inner-city residents - were not counted in the 2000 census.

USA Today reported Thursday that California, Texas, New York, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina had the largest number of uncounted residents.

For most Indiana towns and counties, the Indiana adjustments represent only a 1 percent or 2 percent change in population, according to the census figures.

Marion County, the state's most populated, had the largest undercount at 8,835. Nearly two of three were black.

The state's population rose less than 1 percent, from an official 6,080,485 to an adjusted 6,126,011.

Gov. Frank O'Bannon's office said Friday it is unknown at this point what the new figures would mean for the state, if anything.

"We really need to get a better feel for what the changes are in other states before we know any of the ramifications of this," O'Bannon press secretary Mary Dieter said. "This is a really complicated area that we have to determine. For example, if this represents a 1 percent change in our census, there could be other states with a 4 or 5 percent change.

"It could mean nothing for us, or it could be significant. And we just don't know now."

The Associated Press and David Griner of The Journal Gazette contributed to this story.

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS

This week the U.S Census Bureau released figures estimating the number of people missed during the April 1, 2000, count. Here are the official and adjusted numbers for northeast Indiana counties.

County Official Adjusted Change

Adams 33,625 33,627 2

Allen 331,849 333,598 1,749

DeKalb 40,285 40,280 -5

Huntington 38,075 38,086 11

Kosciusko 74,057 74,774 717

LaGrange 34,909 35,049 140

Noble 46,275 46,801 526

Steuben 33,214 33,440 226

Wabash 34,960 35,244 284

Wells 27,600 27,575 -25

Whitley 30,707 30,713 6

Source: U.S. Census Bureau