Ong & Associates and U.S. Census Bureau (left); Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (right)
Maps of Los Angeles County depicting differences in U.S. Census response rates by neighborhood as of April 30, 2020, versus April 30, 2010 (left), and numbers of COVID-19 cases as of May 3, 2020.
An analysis by UCLA researchers has found that many of the areas in Los Angeles County with the lowest response rates to the 2020 U.S. Census are also among the locations with the most cases of COVID-19.
In the 2010 census, about 63% of Los Angeles County households responded by mail. This year, according to Paul Ong, a UCLA research professor, the county is on pace for just 52% of households to report their information.
Ong, who also is director of the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, spearheaded the analysis of census responses (PDF) through April 30, which found that the differences in response rate between 2020 and 2010 varies widely by census tract throughout the county. While the response rate for 2020 is about 11 percentage points below what it was in 2010 for the county overall, in many parts of the county, the rate is lagging 2010 rates by 21.6% or more.
The communities whose 2020 response rates are lagging 2010 rates the most — 29 percentage points on average — include lower-income neighborhoods in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles, a majority of South Los Angeles, the Harbor area and Van Nuys. When the researchers compared the census response data to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health's tally of COVID-19 cases, they found those immigrant-rich areas are also among the places with the greatest numbers of people with coronavirus.
