Last week, the 2010 Census released data for the District of Columbia, showing what appeared to be a significant boom in Georgetown’s population.

The recent data suggests that 1,791 new residents have been added to the Georgetown community, or roughly a 21.01 percent population increase.

Most of this growth, about 1,351 people, appears to have been added to the area between O, M, and 35th Streets. This means there was a 133 percent increase in residents in the area, according to the data.

Aside from the explanation that people are living in masses in the streets, sewers, and under the Lau steps, the population increase is more likely the result of reporting changes. In the 2000 Census, only 53 residents were documented as living in on the two blocks bounded by 36th, 37th, O, and P Streets, and alternatively 35th, 36th, Prospect and O Streets. However, these two blocks have been part of University housing for quite some time, so their residents were likely included in the on-campus count for the census rather than as part of the neighborhood population.

The Georgetown Metropolitan claims that another part of the increase in the neighborhood’s population is the rising number of children in the area, which GM approximates to be around 200 children.

Image: The Georgetown Metropolitan

Vox was going to skip the Census-myth-debunking blog post party, but to our surprise, we’ve heard from a lot of students who are under the impression that they don’t have to fill out the 2010 Census because they’ll be listed on their parents’ form, or because without proper voting rights, it doesn’t help out D.C. to be counted, anyway.

False and false.

Even if you’re counted as a dependent on someone else’s tax forms, unless you spend more time living at home than you do living at Georgetown, you and your housemates need to fill out your own Census form and get counted in the District. And actually, there are a couple of ways that being counted as a District resident help D.C. out. To that effect, below is a roundup and debunking of common ‘Census myths.’

Myth: You should be counted on the Census forms at your permanent residence.

Like we said above, not so, unless your home state or parent or guardian’s house is where you spend the majority of your time in a given year.  Otherwise, your Henle owes the government a census form.

The District’s Census website explains that this will not affect things like your voter registration or driver’s license. The Census doesn’t care where you legally reside, just where you spend most of your time.

Oh shit, there’s no Census form in my Residence Hall mailbox.

They’re not there yet, although students in some University townhouses should have already received them. As for Georgetown, University Spokesperson Andy Pino said that forms will be here in the coming weeks.

“Once we have them, Residence Life staff will coordinate with the students in the residence halls to make sure everyone fills out and returns their forms,” he wrote in an e-mail.

After the jump: Why it helps D.C., and why you won’t be counted twice.

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