Screenshot of the Orange County Census Atlas, with a city directory, narrative analysis, and data tables

Census Atlas

A digital guide that shows how communities respond to activation campaigns based on self-response rates from the 2020 Census

  • The Census Atlas serves as a reference guide for funders, government agencies, and community-based organizations to prioritize resources and tailor outreach strategies to specific geographies or populations.

    Census Self-Reponse Rates can help anticipate community response to government and civic activation campaigns such as the 2030 Census, GOTV, or public healh initiatives.

  • Self-Response Rates (SRR) reflect the percentage of all known housing units in a given geography (such as a county, city, census tract) that self-responded to the decennial census by completing the 2020 Census questionnaire online, by phone, or by mail between March and October 2020.

    SRR are one of the most detailed and accurate indicators of a community’s propensity to respond to government-driven activation initiatives. Think of SRR as similar to voter engagement or turnout statistics, but with more granular geography, more details on population characteristics, and representing more of the population.

  • If preparing for community activation campaigns like the 2030 Census were like preparing for a NASCAR race, the playbooks currently being produced would inform engine technology, fuel, paint colors, and driving techniques.

    However, it’s SRR that should determine the starting line and drive order. We know for a fact that from an equity standpoint, we absolutely cannot have a flat starting line if we are prioritizing equity in our strategies.

    • Static report available as an online book or PDF with no maintenance required

    • Easy-to-understand maps, charts, and narrative analysis of “what happened” during the 2020 Census self-response phase

    • Detailed, disaggregated information about the county/region as a whole as well as every individual city

  • The demo you see here is for Orange County, California, which was built with support from the Orange County Community Foundation, Sun Family Foundation, and the Children and Families Commission of Orange County.

Explore the demo

Built by people who use it.

The Census Atlas was designed and written by former funders, program directors, and data scientists who led one of the largest regional activation initiatives in the state of California for the 2020 Census.

This is the reference guide that we wished we had when we were in the early planning stages of a multi-million dollar initiative.

No special knowledge or data analysis skills needed. Just an objective, accessible description of “what happened” that can serve as a starting point for any community activation initiative in the future (and most definitely for 2030).

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