Census data shows Charlestown Anti-Kid Campaign Is Working

When I posted the first 2010 census numbers last night, I speculated we'd see a drop in the number of kids when the more detailed data came out.

I didn't expect the drop to be so big! According to the brand-new census data, Charlestown's under-18 population dropped by 12% between 2000 and 2010, falling from 1,712 to 1,506. We managed to shed 206 of the tax-base eating little buggers. It costs the town around $15,000 each to send them to Chariho.

Now if only Charlestown Planning Commissar Ruth Platner can get rid of 200 more, we won't have to raise the tax rate to make up for valuation losses. One in five of the 1,058 Charlestown Chariho kids have got to go. 

Only a handful of RI communities managed to do a better job of ridding their population of youth (without also shedding a large percentage of their general population). The most efficient child-purger is Glocester which managed to lose 21.2% of its under-18 population while only showing a 2% general population decline.

Author: Will Collette