2010 census response rates lag in cities, rural areas

By The Post's Carol Morello:

Residents of big cities and rural areas are lagging in returning their census questionnaires, but at least two states and hundreds of smaller jurisdictions have already surpassed the rate they achieved in 2000, Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves said Monday.

About two in three households have responded so far, and this is the final week to mail back the 10-question census forms to avoid having a census taker come out, starting in May. On April 19, census officials will begin compiling a master list of addresses that did not respond. They expect to hire more than 700,000 census takers to make up to six personal visits so they can complete the count.

Groves said North Carolina, with a 67 percent response rate, and South Carolina, at 66 percent, are each one percentage point ahead of their count for the last census, while Kentucky is on the verge of matching its 2000 rate of 70 percent. The national average is 65 percent.

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