When the 2020 census found that tiny McNab, Arkansas, had lost more than half its residents, Mayor James Conway went door to door and found 45 people in the rural town instead of the 30 reported by the census.
“The census is showing that we went down from 68 (in 2010) to 30 people, and that is incorrect,” Conway said. As a result, the city’s monthly revenue-sharing payment from Arkansas dropped to less than $209 from about $457 last year.
Two years after census 2020, many cities and states say the count wildly underestimated their residents, costing them significant federal and state money for the social services and infrastructure their areas need. The numbers also have created confusion in drawing new voting districts, potentially leaving some areas with less political power than they should have in state legislatures and Congress.
