Neighborhood News

Published April 29, 2020 By Justin Kerr

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot shared a video message especially for the McKinley Park neighborhood to encourage residents to participate in the United States Census, because current numbers show an abysmal response rate. "Less than half of McKinley Park has taken the census so far," Lightfoot said in the video. "I know you can do better than that."

An accurate census count is critically important for McKinley Park, as census results are directly tied to the amount of funding awarded to community areas, as well as a community's political representation and related influence, Lightfoot said.

Illinois 2nd District State Representative Theresa Mah confirmed the importance of responding to the census. "I can't emphasize enough how urgent it is for our community to respond," she said.

A screen capture from the Chicago Census 2020 website displays census response rates for the McKinley Park neighborhood through Sunday, April 26."We lose out on a lot of funding for the community with each person who does not respond," Mah said. "That is thousands of dollars multiplied by each uncounted person for the next ten years."

How To Participate in the Census

The City of Chicago has published the Chicago Census 2020 website at census2020.chicago.gov to share Chicago-specific U.S. Census information and support, including translations for Spanish and Chinese languages. This website links to the main U.S. Census website at my2020census.gov, where residents can submit their own census replies through a process that takes about 10 minutes or less.

Residents can also respond by free postal mail using the materials sent to every neighborhood household through the U.S. Mail. These mailed materials include that household's Census ID, which is required for replying, including replies sent through the U.S. Census website.

Local Census Statistics

As Lightfoot noted in her video, only 66 percent of Chicago responded to the last census in 2010. "That's terrible; no other way to put it," she said.

The city's Chicago Census 2020 website provides a wealth of materials and information, including property tract-level response rates for the McKinley Park neighborhood on the Census 2020 Ward Level Results page for the 12th Ward, which covers all of McKinley Park's residential areas. These show census response rates through April 26 as low as 34.5 percent.

"You all have incredible pride," Lightfoot said to the neighborhood. "Give back to the community by taking the census today."

Watch Lightfoot's video message to the McKinley Park neighborhood here:

Additional Resources

In her most recent email newsletter to constituents, Mah included a number of additional resources to support response to the U.S. Census, including a census help lines in English at (844) 330-2020, in Spanish at (844) 468-2020, in Mandarin at (844) 391-2020 and in Cantonese at (844) 398-2020.