With the leadership of Secretary of State William Galvin, Massachusetts currently funds a Population Estimates Program, contracting with the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute.  Each year the Census Bureau issues annual population estimates for each municipality in the state; many of the recent Census estimates have undercounted the population for a variety of reasons, with a variety of impacts.  The Population Estimates Program helps protect the Commonwealth against undercounting by (1) conducting independent annual estimates, (2) developing local and regional partnerships to collect relevant data, (3) working with the Census Bureau to ensure that they have up-to-date and complete information, and (4) supporting necessary challenges to the Census numbers.

Census assumes no change to group quarters, like dormitories, nursing homes, or other institutions when calculating annual estimates unless provided with evidence to the contrary.  In the first year of the project, the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute-Population Estimates Program identified over 230,000 persons living in group quarters in Massachusetts; 38 municipalities in the MAPC region submitted information to the estimates program about group quarters in their communities.  This program help will improve the accuracy of Census 2010, but does not replace the need for education and outreach for the decennial Census.

5.a    The Secretary of State should contract annually with the State Data Center at the Donahue Institute to prepare independent annual estimates of the state’s population

5.b    The State Data Center at UMass Donahue Institute and Regional Planning Agencies should work with municipalities to gather local data in a timely manner

5.c    The Secretary of State and State Data Center at UMass Donahue Institute should provide support for municipal challenges to Census annual population estimates

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