Rural Residents Doing Their Part in Champaign County Census Returns

Smaller towns in Champaign County are taking the lead in returning 2010 Census forms.

Overall, the county is just over 50 % percent in the rate of response. A planner with Champaign County's Regional Planning Commission says it's not surprising that rural communities like Ivesdale and Ogden each have a rate of return around 70% since they have smaller populations - and those populations don't change much. Andrew Levy says the lack of response from University of Illinois students are a big reason Champaign and Urbana's response rates are just under 50%. The US Census Bureau is requesting that the forms be returned by mid-April. For those that haven't, census workers will be going door to door to ask the same questions on the form. Levy is asking U of I students to accommodate those enumerators the best they can. "As local governments, we're asking that everybody help and particpate, especially around apartment buildings, to make sure census workers have access to the buildings," says Levy. "They'll have badgets, and it's really important that everybody identify that it is a census worker."

Levy says he hopes his office and others handling the census can end the misconception that the census forms can be filled out on line. He says neighboring counties like Vermilion and Piatt have higher response rates than Champaign County... since they're made up of more small rural towns. An accurate count in the 2010 census ensures that counties receive the right amount of tax dollars and proper representation in Congress.