Deadline for census response is Friday

SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves is making a special plea for Utahns to mail back their 2010 Census forms by Friday, the final day they can do so and avoid visits by census workers at their door.

"The census form on your kitchen table is a vital investment in your community," he said. "Fill it out and mail it back today. Get it in the mail by Friday, and you can avoid a visit from a census worker in May."

He added, "After Friday, we have only two weeks to determine which of more than 134 million addresses we must visit in person starting May 1." While mailing a response costs the government only 42 cents, sending an enumerator costs an estimated $57.

Residents of households that do not have census form may call the questionnaire assistance office at 1-866-872-6868, where workers can take responses over the phone.

Also, residents may pick up a form at assistance centers and "Be Counted" sites that can be located online at 2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/.

As of Wednesday, the Census Bureau reported that 69 percent of Utah households had mailed back their forms, a bit better than the 67 percent who did so nationally. Ten years ago, 72 percent of Utahns mailed back their 2000 Census forms.

The areas in Utah with the highest response rates so far are Goshen, Utah County, 90 percent; Mantua, Box Elder County, 85 percent; and 82 percent each at Fairfield in Utah County and Wellsville and Hyde Park in Cache County.

The response rates in Utah's largest cities are (in order of estimated population) Salt Lake City, 66 percent; West Valley City, 64 percent; Provo, 68 percent; West Jordan, 73 percent; Sandy, 75 percent; Orem, 71 percent; and Ogden, 65 percent.

— Lee Davidson