TEXAS LAGS IN CENSUS PARTICIPATION

WASHINGTON (U.S. Census Bureau) – Parts of Texas have some of the lowest rates of mail participation so far in the 2010 Census, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nationally, 46 percent of households have mailed back their forms. But in parts of Texas, the participation rate is significantly lower. Among those Texas cities with the lowest mail participation rates as of Monday, March 29, 2010, are:

Brownsville, 25 percent (Census 2000, 63 percent)
Laredo, 27 percent (Census 2000, 63 percent)
Austin, 33 percent (Census 2000, 68 percent)
Houston, 33 percent (Census 2000, 64 percent)
San Antonio, 37 percent (Census 2000, 72 percent)

“We’re concerned about the relatively low response from parts of Texas,” said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. “Every household that fails to send back their census form by mail must be visited by a census taker starting in May — at a significant taxpayer cost. The easiest and best way to be counted in the census is to fill out and return your form by mail.”

For every percentage point increase in mail response, taxpayers will save an estimated $85 million in federal funds. Those funds would otherwise be required to send census takers to collect census responses in person from households that don’t mail back the form.