Census 2020: Working Toward a Complete Count for New Jersey

In the 2020 Census, New Jersey recorded its highest self-response rate in 30 years. When the U.S. Census Bureau announced the state total population counts in April 2021, New Jersey had 9,288,994 people, an increase of 5.7 percent or nearly 500,000 new residents compared to 2010. 

This significant increase in population was a result of the years of coordination between federal, state and local governments and community-based organizations across the state. Due to the size and scope of the Census, it was recognized early on that no single organization or coalition could effectively carry out all the tasks necessary to achieve a successful complete count campaign. Thus, a statewide partnership was formed between four entities, colloquially referred to as the “four-legged stool”: the New York Regional Office of the Census Bureau, the Census NJ 2020 Coalition of non-profit organizations, The Fund for New Jersey representing philanthropic partners, and the New Jersey Department of State, along with its Census grantees. This collaboration allowed the campaign to maximize partner contributions, more efficiently use resources, and minimize duplication of effort. This statewide partnership and collaboration — never before seen in New Jersey — was central to the campaign’s eventual success.

New Jersey faced challenges, including declining response rates to surveys, lower trust in government, and low understanding of the Census’s importance. Additionally, the state is home to populations who are more likely to be excluded from or have low response rates to the Census, often described as “hard to count,” including immigrants, rural residents, renters, seniors, college students, low-income residents, Black or Hispanic residents and children under age 5. As a rapidly changing and diverse state, New Jersey had pockets of hard-to-count (HTC) populations requiring targeted outreach. Approximately 22 percent of New Jersey’s population lived in an HTC area. 

The Fund for New Jersey began to make grants to non-profit organizations focused on HTC populations and/or civic engagement, such as the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ), Wind of the Spirit (WotS) and Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ). These non-profit organizations began meeting with elected officials, local community groups and others in their networks to begin raising the issue of the Census. They worked to advocate for the State to create its own statewide Complete Count Committee, as other states had begun to do, and to designate state funding to support outreach efforts.

New Jersey’s committed local advocates and complete count committees helped to ensure a successful campaign. Ultimately, this resulted in New Jersey being one of the few states to increase its self-response rate by 0.2 points on the final day of the Census. A more complete count generated more federal resources and more influence for New Jersey. Further, Census work supports democracy by increasing civic engagement and public awareness.

For more background on The Fund’s efforts to support the Census 2020, read the report Every Moment Counts: New Jersey’s Blueprint to Census Success in 2020 and Beyond.