UPDATE 7:23pm Wednesday, March 9 |
Long Beach city staffers are examining the preliminary data released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday to determine the accuracy of the city’s population having grown by only 735 people over the last decade.
The shocking revelation that, according to the 2010 count, the city’s population growth rate fell from 7.5 percent in 2000 to just .2 percent last year has left many residents and officials alike suspect that there might have been a miscount.
The staffers will review rates of growth of other, nearby jurisdictions, changes in density and housing patterns, population age and other indicators to determine what caused the city of Long Beach to experience near non-existant growth over the 10-year period.
Cities like Long Beach featuring relatively large, recent immigrant populations and a relatively large proportion of households residing in rental units are especially prone to undercounts, studies have shown. And considering the city’s diverse ethnic makeup and the fact that ethnic minorities are much more likely to be undercounted, suspicions that the city’s actual population in 2010 was higher than 462,257 are not unfounded.
Long Beach has been miscounted before.
A 1999 study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors on the fiscal impact the Census 1990 undercount had on cities revealed that the unadjusted census data did not account for at least 21,500 people, or about 4 percent of Long Beach’s official 1990 population. And post census studies conducted as part of the city’s efforts to have the undercount officially recognized revealed that the population was actually even greater than was shown by the post-enumeration survey.
“A sample survey conducted in several blocks having a significant concentration of Cambodians, for example, revealed an undercount of about 18 percent. The personal estimate of the city’s Advance Planning Officer is that the undercount in Long Beach was more on the order of 30,000 to 40,000 persons,” according to the study.
The recognized undercount was not included when funding levels were determined, and this had a significant financial impact on the city, with each person not counted in 1990 representing a loss of $56 per year, according to the study. And the Los Angeles Urban Research Unit in 1999 estimated that the actual loss per person per year was closer to $100, meaning Long Beach’s total funding loss totaled between $10 million and $15 million during the 10-year period from 1990 to 1999.
Congress relies on census data to determine the appropriate allocation of funding through various federal grant programs to states, counties and other municipalities. Miscounts result in these funds being distributed disparately, which can often result in those communities that are undercounted seeing a decline in services for families with the greatest needs.
More than 30 federal subsidy programs are funded at least partially based on census population statistics. Funding levels for Medicaid, adoption assistance, foster care, vocational education and a host of block grant programs addressing needs in the areas of social services, substance abuse prevention and treatment, community development and many others are all negatively impacted when census counts do not reflect a community’s actual population.
8:15pm | The U.S. Census Bureau today released preliminary results of last year’s nationwide population count, and Long Beach appears to have remained nearly unchanged over the last decade, increasing by fewer than 1,000 people.
The city’s official population is now 462,257, according to information provided by the City Manager’s Office based on census data. This paltry increase knocks Long Beach down a couple of notches to only the seventh largest city in the state.
Between 2000 and 2010, the city’s population crept up a mere 735 people, yielding a population growth rate of just .2 percent. This is the flattest rate of growth for Long Beach dating back to 1950, though from 1970 to 1980, the rate wasn’t much higher at .8 percent.
That’s in sharp contrast the the growth experienced from 1990 to 2000 and from 1980 to 1990, when the population swelled by 32,089 and 68,099, respectively.
Growth has been notably higher in inland communities, according to the census data provided by City Hall. Riverside County experienced a 41.7 percent growth, while Los Angeles County as a whole experienced a 3.1 percent growth. Some Inland cities had significant growth, such as Bakersfield (40.6 percent) and Riverside (19.1 percent), while some large coastal-area cities lost population, such as Oakland (-2.2 percent) and Santa Ana (-4.0 percent).
More detailed data on the Long Beach population by council district, race, age and housing will be released in the coming weeks, according to City Hall.
City staffers will be reviewing the numbers to determine if the data is sound and accurately reflects the city’s population. Should the numbers be determined to be off, the city can challenge the results.
Check back later for updates to this story featuring additional information.