Demographics + 2010 Census

Census 2010 – OPEN YOUR DOOR

Congratulations to Haddon Township residents for the whopping 83 percent census mail back rate .  Our towns was 11 percentage points above the 72 percent  response rate for the state of New Jersey. But achieving a complete and accurate census will still require that the Census Bureau now go door to door to count all the remaining households.

Census takers have began going door to door in Haddon Township to follow up with households that either didn’t mail back their form or didn’t receive one.  Please open your door for the census taker and help our town receive the appropriate funding for our population.  If a 2010 Census worker knocks on your door, here are some ways to verify that person is a legitimate census taker:

•    The census taker must present an ID badge that contains a Department of Commerce watermark and expiration date. The census taker may also be carrying a black canvas bag with a Census Bureau logo.
•    The census taker will provide you with supervisor contact information and/or the local census office phone number for verification, if asked.
•    The census taker will only ask you the questions that appear on the 2010 Census form.
•    The 2010 Census taker will not ask for social security number, bank account number or credit card number and will never solicit for donations or contact you by e-mail.

In most cases, census workers will make up to six attempts at each housing unit address to count possible residents. This includes leaving notifications of the attempted visit at the house or apartment door, in addition to trying to reach the household by phone to conduct the interview or schedule an in-person interview.

If a census taker knocks on your door, please help by providing the basic information required for the census. Your answers are strictly confidential. There are just 10 questions on the form and it should only take about 10 minutes to complete.

Census takers will go to great lengths to ensure that no one is missed in the census. After exhausting their efforts to do an in-person interview with a resident of an occupied housing unit, they will seek out proxy sources — a neighbor, a rental agent, a building manager or some other knowledgeable person familiar with the housing unit — to obtain as much basic information about the occupants as they can.

Some households will receive a visit even though they may have mailed back their form. If the form arrived too late to be processed before non-response follow-up packets were sent to one of the 494 local census offices, the household occupants must still be interviewed when the census taker arrives. The Census Bureau is urging cooperation and patience with the census takers, as this is the best way to ensure that everyone is counted properly.

The part-time, temporary census workers that are canvassing Haddon Township are Haddon Township residents. They have received 40 hours of training in classes, which were held at Rohrer Middle School. Census workers are your neighbors; they are familiar with the neighborhood and are working to ensure that it is accurately and completely represented.

The Census Bureau has stringent systems in place to ensure that people can feel safe when they open their door to a census taker. All census takers undergo an FBI background check that includes both name and fingerprint checks. All have taken an oath for life to protect the information they collect and understand that they face stiff penalties, jail time or both for any disclosure of personally identifiable information.

As with all 2010 Census information, address information, including GPS coordinates, is protected by the confidentiality requirements of Title 13 of the United States Code. All Census Bureau employees take an oath for life to protect identifiable information about individuals and businesses gathered by the agency. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents’ answers with the IRS, FBI, CIA or any other government agency. The penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine up to $250,000, a jail term of up to 5 years, or both.

Visit the Official 2010 Website -http://2010.census.gov/2010census/

HADDON TOWNSHIP DEMOGRAPHICS

The Township of Haddon comprises the areas known as Westmont, West Collingswood Heights, and West Collingswood and is dedicated to promoting community cohesiveness Where Community Truly Thrives.

The Township is a popular area for residents because of its close proximity near city of Philadelphia and the resort areas of the Jersey Shore, all while maintaining a small-town feel with a reasonable cost of living. In addition to its location, the Township of Haddon also features its own station on the PATCO Hi-Speed-line which conveniently transports people into the City of Philadelphia.

Demographic Information

(according to the 2000 Census)

Population: 14,651 people

The population is spread out in the following manner:

22.6 % 18 years old or younger

5.8 % from 18 to 24 years old

28.7 % from 25 to 44 years old

22.9 % from 45 to 64 years old

20.0 % 65 years and older

Number of Households: 6,207

The average household size is 2.36 persons and the average family consists of 3.05 people.

Median Age: 41

Median Income for a household: $51,076

Median Income for a family: $65,269