Census Deadline: More than Two-Thirds Mail in Forms on Time

Weekend mail may up the count, but as of Friday's deadline, more than two-thirds of American housholds sent in their Census forms as part of the government's effort to count citizens and skectch a demographic profile of the country.

Sixty-eight percent isn't bad, but using comparable tabulations, the return rate 10 years ago was 72 percent, the Census Bureau said.

"Now's the time to clear off your kitchen table and stick that form in the mail," Census Director Robert Graves said on Friday. "Residents who fail to mail back their forms today should be prepared to get a knock on their doors in May and July."

The Census is important, as it tells us who we are as a people. But it also matters because areas that are undercounted will receive fewer federal benefits than warranted by their actual population.

On May 1, Census workers will begin going door-to-door, attemping to count those who did not send in their questionnaires.

As of the weekend, Wisconsin (78 percent) and Minnesota (77 percent) had the highest mail-in rates. Among local communities, 85 percent of the households in Livonia, Mich., and 84 percent of those in Green Township, Ohio sent them in.