According to the US Census Bureau website, only 42.6% of Marion County residents have responded to the US Census. Texas has reported a 54.6% response rate, also lagging behind the US average of 60%.
Only 17.1% of residents have responded online – most likely due to limited or poor internet connectivity in the majority of the county.
Forms were mailed out to each household earlier this year with options to respond online or by returning the forms.
The City of Jefferson has a higher response rate of 53.6% of the residents responding. More residents have chosen to return the mailed forms while 24% have responded online.
COVID-19 concerns have slowed the in-person response gathering as worker hiring was put on hold as the pandemic began. However the Census Bureau has begun resuming the hiring process for in-person response takers. Those contacted before shelter in place orders were put into practice should be being contacted over the next few weeks.
The 2020 Census will determine congressional representation, inform hundreds of billions in federal funding every year, and provide data that will impact communities for the next decade.
The City, County, and State will be redistricting in the next year so census numbers are critical in establishing representation and where precinct or ward lines are drawn.
Individuals can still respond to the US Census online by clicking here or by going to https://my2020census.gov/.
Response is required by law and online takes about 5 minutes to complete.