Milwaukee Believes Census Didn’t Count 15,800 Residents
City submitting formal challenge with more than $21 million in federal aid on the line.
The City of Milwaukee is formally challenging the results of the 2020 U.S. Census that show the city’s population dropped 3%, from 594,833 to 577,235, since 2010. The city believes the correct total is 593,722.
“The Census is affecting Milwaukee in more than than just undercounting our residents,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson at a press conference Tuesday morning. There are millions of dollars on the line, city officials note.
“We are here to set the record straight. Since 2010, the Milwaukee population has been relatively stable,” said Johnson, while flanked by a group of supporters.
The city’s case comes down to two key issues. “The Census Bureau undercounted housing units and overcounted vacant units,” said the mayor. “The reported 577,000 number was simply not accurate.”
The Census Bureau established its own list of 257,723 housing units as of April 1, 2020, but the city believes the correct figure is 260,132. The bureau does agree that the total number of units has increased since 2010, but consistent with longstanding national trends, says the average household size has been shrinking.
Complicating the city’s ability to explicitly identify the discrepancies between its figures and those of the bureau, the U.S. Census Bureau’s smallest reporting unit is a grouping of several city blocks known as “census block.” Milwaukee is divided into approximately 7,000 such units.
A team of Department of City Development and Department of Administration employees conducted what officials called a “thorough quality control check” of the city’s data. “During this process, it was discovered that likely errors in the Census Bureau’s final unit counts were fairly widespread,” says the city’s challenge letter. Issues were found throughout the city, but the issue was particularly significant in a number of near northside census blocks near W. Capitol Dr.
The State of Wisconsin has its own challenge which is likely to bolster the city’s population. A total of 700 inmates at the downtown jail were incorrectly reported as residents of the Milwaukee County House of Correction in suburban Franklin. In addition, a single apartment building with approximately 70 units is part of the city’s challenge, with Milwaukee officials believing it was incorrectly counted as part of the City of Glendale.
In aggregate, the four issues shortchange Milwaukee by 16,500 residents, says the city.
Congresswoman Gwen Moore and U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin submitted a joint letter of support of the city’s challenge and encouraged the bureau to undertake a quick review. City officials said they didn’t have an estimate on when the bureau would review its challenge, but that it was in a queue of 40 to 50 other challenges, including those from Boston and Detroit.
Also joining Johnson at the press conference were Milwaukee Urban League head Eve Hall, Alderwoman JoCasta Zamarripa, Forward Latino president Darryl Morin, ElevAsian leader Erik Kennedy, Milwaukee NAACP leader Fred Royal, pastor Walter Lanier, African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin CEO Nikki Purvis and Department of Administration Commissioner Sharon Robinson.
The city last successfully challenged a U.S. Census Bureau figure in 2007. It challenged the estimated population of 573,358, with the bureau adjusting the figure to 602,782.
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- October 30, 2019 - JoCasta Zamarripa received $100 from Darryl Morin
- October 27, 2019 - JoCasta Zamarripa received $75 from Gwen Moore
- June 30, 2019 - JoCasta Zamarripa received $200 from Darryl Morin
- May 29, 2019 - JoCasta Zamarripa received $250 from Darryl Morin
- May 12, 2016 - Cavalier Johnson received $100 from Sharon Robinson