Bogus data pumps up the rural population

by Peter Wagner, September 15, 2003

graphical display of counties in New York showing how much of each county's reported population is prisoners

The presence of a prison in a rural area can have a huge impact on Census Bureau statistics about the town or county. In a number of counties in New York, prisons can make up more than 2% of the county’s population, and in the case of Franklin County, prisoners constitute almost 11% of the population reported to the Census.



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