Image: Anastasiia_New - Getty Images
2020 Census illustration
On Tuesday morning, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson held a ceremony to sign and submit the City of Milwaukee's challenge to the 2020 U.S. Census. The event, which will took place at the mayor's office, was attended by community members and elected officials. Prior to the ceremony, city officials involved in drafting the census response reviewed the details of the challenge.
In October 2021, then Mayor Tom Barrett detailed to Shepherd Express the reasoning for the city’s need to challenge the Census numbers.
According to the Census Bureau, Milwaukee's population decreased from 594,833 in 2010 to 577,222 in 2020, a decline of about 3%. In response to these numbers, former Mayor Barrett directed the City of Milwaukee Department of Administration to challenge the Census Bureau's count once the agency begins accepting challenges in 2022. Mayor Barrett stated, "Many factors have led me to make this decision. Simply put, the Census Bureau's numbers are not adding up."
Census data is used to allocate more than $675 billion in federal funds to cities, counties, and states each year for a range of important programs, including schools, hospitals, housing, and job training. According to a study by the George Washington Institute of Public Policy called "Counting for Dollars 2020," Wisconsin receives $12.6 billion annually based on census data. For each resident who goes uncounted, our community will lose out on $1,584 in funding per year over the next decade. In addition, census data is used to determine the boundaries of state legislative districts and the number of seats Wisconsin gets in Congress, which affects the state’s representation in government.
