For example, a Census Bureau analysis estimates the 2000 Census resulted in a nationwide net under-count of 1.84 percent for non-Hispanic blacks and 0.71 percent for Hispanics. At the same time, the bureau estimates that non-Hispanic whites were over-counted by 1.13 percent.

"That's their premier product. Their central mission is to get the enumeration right," says Perlich. "Hopefully, they'll improve upon the previous count."

In 2000, Utah felt the sting of narrowly losing out on a fourth congressional seat, which went to North Carolina when thousands of overseas LDS missionaries weren't counted.

Utah has lost two court challenges to the census results and efforts to add the seat through federal legislation stalled. A test of an overseas count was done in 2004, and based on the results, the Census Bureau opted against using it in 2010, says Gbur.

Utah's most recent population estimates place the state's growth at just under 2.7 million and this time around, the state has pretty much cinched its fourth seat.

Still, Perlich says it's important on the local and state level to have an accurate count so that federal resources reflect the state's demographics.

"For people in the local community, their interest is getting most accurate count because of the federal dollars and congressional apportionment that ride on that number," Perlich says. "The pressure from the locals is to say, look, we are bigger than you think we are, because of the resources connected with a larger population."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com