Preparation for the 2010 Census is ramping up steadily in Warren County, as locals are reminding people to return the official form once it arrives in mailboxes in March.

Warren County Census

Warren County population and shifts according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2000 count, 2006 and 2008 estimates.

    2000    2006    2008

Male    23,275 (46.9%)    22,863 (47%)    22,569 (46.9%)

Female    26,369 (53.1%)    25,777 (53%)    25,518 (53%)

White    27,288 (55%)    24,529 (50.4%)    24,518 (50.9%)

Black    21,439 (43.2%)    22,711 (46.7%)    22,734 (47.2%)

Hispanic    514 (1%)    697 (1.4%)    722 (1.5%)

Asian    307 (0.6%)    382 (0.8%)    356 (0.7%)

Other    164 (0.3%)    508 (1%)    134 (0.2%)

Two or more    326 (0.7%)    316 (0.6%)    345 (0.7%)

Community events and advisories on television and radio are part of an all-out effort by a Complete County Committee here and nationwide to let sectors of the population know the mailer is coming and to help identify canvassers who will visit households who do not mail a completed form back by early April.

“Right now, the main thing is getting the word out,” said Kelvin Rankin, a Census Bureau Partnership Specialist working with the local committee.

U.S. population counts have taken place every 10 years since 1790, with each shift affecting representation in Congress and federal funding for a multitude of projects and entities, from infrastructure and social programs to certain types of tax revenue distribution.

Warren County’s return rate was 63 percent in 2000, about the same as the statewide rate. Unlike last time, when questions touching on detailed socioeconomic factors such as income were added, the 2010 survey will ask a person’s name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, relationship and housing tenure.

Warren County had 49,644 citizens in 2000, which was up nearly 2,000 from 1990. Slight drops have been recorded in bureau estimates since, most recently at 48,087 in 2008. Inside Vicksburg, the count was 26,407 in 2000, up nearly 5,500 from 1990. The 2008 estimate had the municipal population at 24,974.

In May, data released by the Census Bureau based on estimates between 2007 and 2008 indicated Warren County has become a “minority-majority” county, meaning less than 50 percent of the population is non-Hispanic white. The figures showed the demographic at 49.8 percent, with 50.2 percent being black, Hispanic, Asian or part of another ethnic group.

Counts of individuals residential households are location-specific. For example, students away at college for the first time will be counted in the county in which they attend school. The same works for the incarcerated.

“If you have a student living in a dorm at Alcorn State, they’re going to be counted in Claiborne County,” Rankin said. “Where you lay your head is where you get counted.”

Numbers of Hispanics, about 14 percent nationwide, stood at 1.04 percent in Warren County in 2000 and about 1.5 percent in 2008 estimates.

The percentage that emerges from 2010’s count will be of special importance to committee chairman Marie Thompson, a policy and intergovernmental relations official with the City of Vicksburg who is Hispanic. Next year’s census refers to Hispanic as an origin and not a race, allowing for identification under one or more Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin based on individual countries. Thompson said she’ll be checking the box for Mexican, as both maternal grandparents hailed from South of the Border.

“Before, I was counted as Caucasian,” Thompson said.

Events are planned for five local United Way agencies to hold two events each to raise awareness about the census, committee member and United Way of West Central Mississippi executive director Barbara Tolliver said.

Outreach efforts are planned through committee membership by the Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce and the NAACP Vicksburg Chapter. Advisories to appear on TV23 and on the Vicksburg Warren School District channel 16 are also planned.

By law, population information gathered by the Census Bureau will be taken by December 2010 to the president for apportionment. States should receive redistricting data by March 2011.

Mississippi lost a U.S. House seat in the 2000 Census. The state’s population stood at just more than 2.9 million in recent estimates.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com