Iowa near top in completed Census surveys

DES MOINES — The U.S. Census Bureau says Iowa is one of the very best states so far in terms of its response rate to this year’s big count.

Iowa’s response rate ranks number-two in the country, just a fraction behind Wisconsin and just ahead of Minnesota. The bureau says about 26% of Iowans have filled out their census forms, either online, by mail or phone, with 23% of Iowans responding online. The national average is 21%.

The states at the bottom of the list are Montana, West Virginia, and Alaska, where only 11%have responded. The mailers started going out on March 12th. Beginning in May, census takers will start knocking on doors of homes from which there’s been no response.