You’d think the Census would be much easier this year, since Census-takers are much more likely to find everyone at home…
Luckily, we can fulfill our decennial Constitutional duty to count ourselves and protect everyone from unnecessary exposure to coronavirus by filling out the Census online.
The Census Bureau opened its online response website to the public on March 19. In its first twelve days of operation, that website received 88.0% of all Census responses submitted. Counting online and mail, the Census received responses from 38.4% of American households.
Utah residents show the strongest preference for Censusing online. 99.1% of their responses so far have come via the Internet. Washington, New Hampshire, and Colorado have submitted over 95% of their Census responses electronically. Another eighteen states have online submission rates higher than 90%. South Dakota just missed that percentage, though we’re still beating the national average online response rate. The states with the lowest online Census response percentages are Mississippi (62.9%), Arkansas (70.3%), West Virginia (71.9%), and Alabama (73.1%).
Minnesota and Wisconsin are tied for the best overall response rate of 46.4%. Nebraska, Iowa, and Michigan each beat 44%. The states least interested in being counted so far are Alaska (23.6% response rate), West Virginia (27.0%), New Mexico (28.3%), and Wyoming (30.0%).
Here in South Dakota, our counties with big tribal populations have the lowest overall response rates, but what responses they have submitted have come entirely via Internet.
| County | online response rate | % households responding online | % households responding, any means |
| Aurora | 98.2% | 27.7 | 28.2 |
| Beadle | 92.3% | 39.5 | 42.8 |
| Bennett | 100.0% | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| Bon Homme | 29.2% | 12.0 | 41.1 |
| Brookings | 99.1% | 44.6 | 45.0 |
| Brown | 85.3% | 36.7 | 43.0 |
| Brule | 98.0% | 28.7 | 29.3 |
| Buffalo | 100.0% | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Butte | 80.9% | 29.2 | 36.1 |
| Campbell | 34.2% | 6.6 | 19.3 |
| Charles Mix | 44.3% | 6.2 | 14.0 |
| Clark | 98.9% | 35.4 | 35.8 |
| Clay | 85.1% | 38.4 | 45.1 |
| Codington | 93.7% | 43.1 | 46.0 |
| Corson | 92.6% | 2.5 | 2.7 |
| Custer | 74.6% | 25.3 | 33.9 |
| Davison | 98.6% | 42.5 | 43.1 |
| Day | 47.9% | 13.9 | 29.0 |
| Deuel | 99.4% | 30.7 | 30.9 |
| Dewey | 100.0% | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Douglas | 31.7% | 11.3 | 35.6 |
| Edmunds | 35.9% | 10.3 | 28.7 |
| Fall River | 49.7% | 15.3 | 30.8 |
| Faulk | 33.7% | 10.2 | 30.3 |
| Grant | 81.2% | 37.1 | 45.7 |
| Gregory | 29.7% | 9.7 | 32.7 |
| Haakon | 100.0% | 9.9 | 9.9 |
| Hamlin | 99.4% | 32.0 | 32.2 |
| Hand | 29.1% | 12.9 | 44.3 |
| Hanson | 98.9% | 36.3 | 36.7 |
| Harding | 99.4% | 16.4 | 16.5 |
| Hughes | 99.3% | 44.6 | 44.9 |
| Hutchinson | 47.3% | 20.1 | 42.5 |
| Hyde | 34.0% | 6.9 | 20.3 |
| Jackson | 100.0% | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| Jerauld | 32.4% | 10.4 | 32.1 |
| Jones | 43.9% | 7.9 | 18.0 |
| Kingsbury | 30.7% | 13.5 | 44.0 |
| Lake | 98.7% | 37.6 | 38.1 |
| Lawrence | 85.0% | 31.7 | 37.3 |
| Lincoln | 99.4% | 50.5 | 50.8 |
| Lyman | 51.0% | 5.0 | 9.8 |
| McCook | 99.0% | 41.3 | 41.7 |
| McPherson | 29.9% | 6.4 | 21.4 |
| Marshall | 98.8% | 16.3 | 16.5 |
| Meade | 98.6% | 34.3 | 34.8 |
| Mellette | 43.3% | 2.9 | 6.7 |
| Miner | 98.0% | 30.1 | 30.7 |
| Minnehaha | 99.0% | 48.2 | 48.7 |
| Moody | 98.3% | 34.8 | 35.4 |
| Oglala Lakota | 66.7% | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Pennington | 96.4% | 40.3 | 41.8 |
| Perkins | 30.6% | 9.5 | 31.0 |
| Potter | 98.6% | 21.0 | 21.3 |
| Roberts | 57.6% | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Sanborn | 98.2% | 26.9 | 27.4 |
| Spink | 50.4% | 19.9 | 39.5 |
| Stanley | 99.4% | 30.7 | 30.9 |
| Sully | 98.6% | 21.3 | 21.6 |
| Todd | 100.0% | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Tripp | 31.2% | 10.6 | 34.0 |
| Turner | 98.6% | 34.0 | 34.5 |
| Union | 99.1% | 44.4 | 44.8 |
| Walworth | 36.6% | 13.1 | 35.8 |
| Yankton | 88.9% | 41.7 | 46.9 |
| Ziebach | 100.0% | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Among counties with greater than 10% overall response rates, ten—Lincoln, Harding, Hamlin, Deuel, Stanley, Hughes, Brookings, Union, McCook, and Minnehaha—have submitted over 99% of their responses online. Four counties—Hand, Bon Homme, Gregory, and McPherson—have online submission rates below 30%.
Lincoln County is the only South Dakota county so far to break the 50% total response rate. Minnehaha is close in eagerness to count, with 48.7% of its households responding. Eighteen of our 66 counties have better than a 40% response rate so far.
Remember, if you want your state to count, you’ve got to count! Fill out your Census form today!
I’m a “census enumerator,” meaning one of the people who goes door to door for the people who don’t respond. Yep. That’s on hold for an indeterminate time.
I got my initial notice, and then a second notice a couple weeks later. Then I received a postcard reminder about two weeks after the second notice. The census is supposed to be done on April 1. I didn’t want to fill it out until April 1. With Covid going around you never know what could happen. We decided to fill it out March 30.
As important as the census is, if a person dressed like this came to my door, I wouldn’t open it!!