Census 2010 participation rates.

• Author: Justis, Rachel M.
• Position: Statistical data

This summer, Census workers have been in the field, going door-to-door following up on households that did not return their census form by mail (a procedure known to census junkies as non-response follow-up). Given that high mail participation rates are correlated with more accurate data and lower costs, it is good to note that Indiana had one of the highest mail participation rates in the nation and many areas saw improvement relative to Census 2000. (1)

States

Indiana tied with Iowa for third in the nation with a mail participation rate of 78 percent. The national rate was 72 percent, with participation ranging from 62 percent in Alaska to 81 percent in Wisconsin (see Figure 1).

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Nationally, the 72 percent participation rate showed no change since Census 2000. At the statewide level, Indiana saw a 2 percentage point increase in participation over Census 2000. It was one of twenty-one states to see rates improve compared to the last census. North and South Carolina showed the largest improvements, with rates increasing by 8 percentage points. On the flip side, Wyoming saw a 4 point decline in participation.

The Census Bureau released rates on a daily basis to allow local officials to track their participation during March and April. Figure 2 shows that while Indiana had higher rates overall, the basic mail-back trend mirrored the nation.

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Counties

Within Indiana counties, participation ranged from 67 percent in Greene County to 86 percent in Dubois County (see Figure 3).

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Fifty counties saw increases over Census 2000, led by Crawford County with a 19 percentage point gain (for a 2010 rate of 81 percent). Five counties (Crawford, Owen, Jennings, Pulaski, and Switzerland) saw increases of 10 percentage points or more. White County saw the largest drop in mail participation between the decennials, moving from 77 percent in 2000 to 71 percent in 2010.

Cities and Towns

The tiny town of North Crows Nest (population: 44) in Marion County boasted a 100 percent participation rate. At the other end of the spectrum, the town of Macy (population: 228) in Miami County had the lowest rate in the state at 38 percent. (2)

Table 1 focuses on the 20 largest cities and towns in the state, showing Carmel with the highest participation (85 percent) among this group. Compared to 2000, eleven of the twenty areas saw increases in their participation, led by Terre Haute, which picked up 3 percentage points...