2010 Census - Why We Should Care

I timed myself – it took just six minutes to complete my 2010 Census questionnaire.  And, as of April 27, 2010, between 81 and 83 percent of West University Place residents have done the same, a good ten points higher than the US average.  You can see the results here https://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/.

Now Texas (in general) and Houston (specifically) have been growing in population.  But we are actually growing faster than our own ability to raise children – we have had “net inward migration”.  In other words, Houston has been attracting people from other parts of the country.  In fact, Houston was the #1 destination city in the country, according to U-Haul International’s 2009 National Migration Trend Report (see the full press release here https://assets.bizjournals.com/cms_media/dallas/pdf/Top2009USDestination_040210_Final.pdf). 

Now obviously, our voter and tax bases increase when people pack up and move to our city.  And of course, the Census data is important for political representation, redistricting, etc.  However, you may not have considered that net inward migration is a big, big boost to local businesses and helps keep our tax rate low as well.  

Why?  Because these workers arrive as fully-grown adults.  If we raised these workers from scratch, we would have had to send them to public school for eighteen years.  Think of the cumulative cost of books, salaries, buildings, maintenance, etc. needed to educate a single employee.  California has benefitted from this “migration bonus” for years, but is now forced to play catch-up in the educational arena.

So say “Howdy” to all these new Texans – they weren’t born here, but they got here as soon as they could.  Let’s welcome them and put ’em to work!

Roger Martin

www.rogermartin.com