Census Undercount Could Impact Wilkes

As the nation prepares for Census Day on April 1, a new report finds that areas of North Carolina are at high risk of not being fully counted in the 2010 Census, thanks to the economic recession and housing crisis that have hammered parts of the state. The study by the non-profit Institute for Southern Studies measures how North Carolina counties have been affected by job losses, business layoffs and home foreclosures — economic troubles that officials say make it difficult to get an accurate Census count. Using these economic warning signs combined with other indicators, the report ranks all 100 N.C. counties by their risk of being undercounted in the 2010 Census. An undercount could cause counties to lose millions of federal dollars tied to Census data. Wilkes county ranks 28th on the list, meaning there are 27 counties projected to have a worse census undercount rate than in Wilkes. Yadkin county is projected to be the county with the lowest undercount rate in the state.