CENSUS DEADLINE PUSHED BACK TO OCTOBER 31ST
Residents who have not yet completed the 2020 U.S. Census now have more time to do so.
According to a release Friday from the U.S. Census Bureau, the deadline that was most recently set for Monday, October 5th has been pushed back to Saturday, October 31st. The extension came after an order from a federal judge late Thursday, following days of confusion on when the deadline actually was.
The order came just a few days after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced a target date of October 5th for ending counting. Ross’ announcement followed a preliminary injunction order on September 24th from U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who ruled at the time that the census count should continue through October.
Following Koh’s order Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau sent out a mass text message to census takers informing them the October 5th target date is “not operative”, and that employees should continue enumerating as many people as possible through the end of the month.
As of Friday, Texas is ranked 39th out of 52 entities (including District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) for self-response rate at 62.4 percent. The national self-response rate is 66.6 percent.
Washington County ranks first in response rate in all surrounding counties as of Friday with a self-response rate of 59.9 percent, according to https://2020census.gov. Self-response rates for surrounding counties include:
- Austin County: 57.6 percent,
- Brazos County: 58.8 percent,
- Burleson County: 45.8 percent,
- Fayette County: 53.1 percent,
- Grimes County: 49.7 percent,
- Lee County: 54.4 percent,
- Waller County: 53.5 percent.
Brenham’s self-response rate is 65.8 percent, while Burton’s is 42.8 percent.
Data collected from the census dictates how billions of dollars in federal funding are distributed to states and local communities for the next ten years.
The census can be completed by mail, by phone, or online. For more information, visit https://2020census.gov.