Top 3 counties responding to census are in Wisconsin; Minnesota leads overall
This Sunday, April 5, 2020, photo shows an envelope containing a 2020 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident in Detroit. If you're a census slacker and haven’t yet filled out the form for the 2020 head count, the federal government is trying another way to get in touch with you. Starting Wednesday, the U.S. Census Bureau is mailing out millions of paper forms to homes whose residents haven’t yet answered the once-a-decade questionnaire.[AP Photo/Paul Sancya]
The top three counties in the nation to respond to the U.S. Census questionnaire are in southeastern Wisconsin.
Ozaukee County leads the United States with 81.6% of households reporting their census information, followed by Washington County at 81.4% and Waukesha at 81.2%, the Journal Sentinel reported.
The national response rate is 61.4%, according to the data released this week. Minnesota leads all states with a 70.9% response followed by Wisconsin at 68.4%.
The once-a-decade national headcount began in March and April with census forms and postcards appearing in mailboxes and for the first time, citizens could go online to respond to questions.
So far more than 90 million households nationwide have provided census information.
In Wisconsin, the WOW counties were followed by Calumet County (80.7%) and Outagamie County, 79.2%, in the top five, according to statistics released Monday.
Ozaukee County administrator Jason Dzwinel attributes the high response rate to the coronavirus pandemic and the growth in people working from home.
Had there not been the COVID-19 outbreak “I would normally get the card and throw it in my laptop bag for work and get to it sometime,” Dzwinel said.