Hello everyone,
A report from the U.S. Census Bureau says the state’s population appears to have been overcounted.
The final official tally was just shy of 990,000. However, population estimates made after the census indicated Delaware’s 2021 population is over one million.
If the 5.4% overcount is indeed real, the accurate census figure would be 945,000. Interestingly enough, the report listed Delaware’s 2020 census population at 969,000.
The Census faced some major challenges that included the pandemic and attempted interference from the Trump administration. The administration broke with the tradition of presidencies not messing with the Constitutionally mandated population count and ended the census early.
None of this activity seemed to benefit Republicans since undercounts occurred in Red states, rather than Blue ones like Delaware.
The error will provide ammunition for the gloom and doom crowd that seems to think Delaware is going to hell in a handbasket, with a crushing burden of taxes and regulation. Slower growth in population bolsters their case.
It is also possible that Delaware’s population growth has moved into overdrive after the census, as evidenced by all the farm fields and other areas turning into housing developments south of the C&D Canal. There is also a vast number of New York State plates that have been around since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A slowdown in new housing is in the offing, but adjustable-rate mortgages as interest rates rise. Current momentum will keep the party going for a while.
The counting issues, which will add a cautionary note in the next and hopefully less troubled census, will not affect federal funding for the state, often based on census figures.
Stay cool this weekend. Saturday will be a scorcher. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
