JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you live in the Arlington area of Jacksonville, there’s a good chance you still need to fill out your census survey.
The city says more responses are needed from the 32211 ZIP code.
The census decides where $1.5 trillion is distributed across the country and impacts everything from road projects to your child’s education.
Overall, Florida is below the national average, with 60% of households filling it out so far. And while Duval County is above the state’s average, households in the 32211 ZIP code are far behind.
The city of Jacksonville took to social media, asking people in this ZIP code to fill it out. As of Wednesday, 42% of residents had responded to the census.
Latrelle Billingslea said she knows the importance of the census but admits it’s not always on the top of her mind.
“I can do it online. It’s just when I go to work, I’m working. When I hop in my car, I go straight home and I don’t think about it,” Billingslea said.
The city of Jacksonville says for every citizen who does not respond to the census, regardless of their ZIP code, it means their community is missing out on $10,000 in federal funds.
That’s one of the reasons why Arlington resident Elise Washington said she filled it out the day she got it. She also said she remembers her parents filling it out over 50 years ago.
“When I was younger and my momma was doing it, and then I started doing it, and I was, like, ‘This is what we need to do,‘” Washington said.
Washington shared a message to her community members: “Please do it because, hey, all the improvements that we need in this area, we need the money to do it. Fill it out if you haven’t already did it.”
The deadline to fill out the 2020 census is Sept. 30. To fill it out online, click here.