It’s On! Northfield's 2020 Census Response Rate Challenge To Dundas

Press release from the City of Northfield:

April 14, 2020

The Northfield City Council agreed to a friendly wager against Dundas to see which city has the highest response rate for the 2020 Census.

The cities agreed, if Northfield wins, the Dundas Dog Park will be renamed “Northfield Dog Park” and if Dundas wins, Bridge Square will be renamed “Dundas Square” for one month.

The winner will be determined by the response rate listed on the 2020 Census website on May 15.

“We want to win,” said Mayor Rhonda Pownell, “but, of course, we ultimately want a 100% response rate.”

As of April 13, Northfield’s rate is 67.7% and Dundas’ is 70.0%.

Councilor Clarice Grabau said, “What sticks in the back on my head is, we might possibly lose a congressional seat and I think that’s extremely important. And the fact that for every person that doesn’t respond, we lose $3,000, so this might be a fun way to prompt folks to move ahead.”

The 2020 Census will determine congressional representation, inform hundreds of billions in federal funding every year, and provide data that will impact communities for the next decade.

The country’s current state of National Emergency underscores the critical importance of a complete 2020 Census count for Northfield and Minnesota. Census data are used to allocate billions of dollars in federal funding each year, including for emergency response services.

Response rates are updated daily and can be checked on the 2020 Census website:

Census response rate

Residents can complete their questionnaire by phone, by mail or online

Fill out my census

This press release was produced by the City of Northfield. The views expressed here are the author’s own.