Thousands Missed In State Census Count

More than half a million Californians weren´t tallied by Census Bureau counters in 2000. That´s according to new estimates released Friday under a San Francisco federal court order.

The undercount could have cost California millions of dollars in federal funding. The new estimates found 509,000 more people than the headcount released last year. About 298,000 of them were Hispanic. Nationally states that are either rural or have large minority populations generally registered the largest undercounts – California has both.

The new numbers are based on a complex formula used to estimate the number or people who were likely not found during Census 2000. Despite government cautions state officials may use the new data to lobby for more federal funding.