Did the U.S. Census undercount Memphis' population? The city says so

The city of Memphis has submitted its long-planned challenge to the U.S. Census, the city said Friday. Memphis joins Detroit and Austin, Texas, among major U.S. cities that have challenged census results.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland's weekly newsletter publicly acknowledged the work the city's administration has done for months — gathering evidence that the census underestimated the amount of people who live in the city by about 16,000.

Census data estimated about 633,000 people live in the city limits, a number that affects how much money the city receives from certain federal programs and impacted how legislative districts were drawn during redistricting.

"In all, the evidence our team found proves the census undercounted our population by at least 15,895 Memphians. This means we gained population between 2010 and 2020—the first time in over 50 years...," Strickland said in his newsletter.

The city's Office of Planning and Development has been working on the challenge since late last year.

How does a challenge to the census work?

A city, town, state or Native American tribe can challenge the census through what is known as the Count Question Resolution process.

That process, which is done online, would not alter legislative districts that have already been drawn if successful, according the U.S. Census Bureau's website. 

However, the challenge would potentially change the bureau's yearly population estimates until the 2030 census and would alter numbers that are used for some federal programs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

It was not exactly clear when the city of Memphis submitted its challenge to the census data. A list of cities that had challenged the census as of Aug. 15 did not include Memphis.

Cleveland and Whiteville, Tennessee, have also challenged the census.

Samuel Hardiman covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by email at samuel.hardiman@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter at @samhardiman. 

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis challenges census results