Community Impact

How does the Census impact you?

Census data helps the federal government make decisions about public services that benefit and impact our community on a daily basis such as healthcare, education, public safety and transportation.

• In 2017, 37.1% of Texas’ state-wide spending came from federal grant funds.
• Programs and agencies in Bexar County received $11.3 billion worth of funding that year.
• An undercount of Texas’ population by even 1% in 2020 could result in a $300 million loss of federal funding every year for the next 10 years.

Congressional Seats

The census affects your representation in Congress. Every ten years, the state population counts provided by the census are used to update the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. This is known as Congressional reapportionment.

• With a complete count, Texas is projected to gain 3 seats

Achieving an accurate population count in Texas is crucial to ensuring that the needs of all Texans-- including residents of San Antonio and Bexar County—are represented in Congress.

Hospitals & Healthcare

Federal funding levels for health programs critical to some of our most vulnerable communities are determined using census population data. Some of these programs and their impacts in Bexar County are:

• CHIP: 240,838 insured (2018)
• Medicare: 288,828 enrolled (2018)
• WIC: 61,828 women and children under four served (2015)

Hospitals also utilize census data to perform needs assessments, plan new locations, and understand their service populations better to provide quality care.

Public Safety

Census data plays an important role in keeping our communities safe. Local governments use census data to decide where to:

• Build new police and fire stations
• Determine how best to design programs and allocate resources
• Aid in emergency preparedness

Roads & Transportation

Support for transportation is important for our region, which according to Census population data is gaining roughly 150 new residents every day. Statewide transportation funding from federal transportation programs is projected to total $11.3 billion dollars over the next two years. Funding allocated through these programs goes towards highway and road construction, as well as local and state-wide transit systems.

• VIA Metropolitan Transit to receive $6 million in federal grants to expand transit access
• 179 TxDOT road construction projects currently underway or starting soon in Bexar County worth approximately $1.3 billion dollars

A complete count will help influence funding decisions on these transportation improvements to keep pace with our City and County’s rapid population growth.