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

591,494

residents assisted by federal funded healthcare programs

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

15,522

law enforcement, fire and public safety workers in Bexar County

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

$6 mil

in federal funding to improve transit systems and expanding access

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.

Schools & Education

240,339

meals provided to public students in Bexar County

Education funding allocated by census counts includes funding for:

San Antonio’s 25 Head Start centers, which provide early childhood education opportunities for families and their young children in Edgewood and San Antonio ISDs.
The National School Lunch Program, which provided 240,339 meals for public students in Bexar County during the 2013-14 school year
Bilingual education programs
Grants for Title I schools
Special education support funding for public schools
Student financial aid

Understanding how the census is tied to education in our area is important to providing a bright future for the youngest generation of City and County residents.

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San Antonio Bexar County Census 2020: Count Me In

Contact

Bureau's Customer Service Center
1.800.923.8282

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