As of Wednesday, March 31, the mail-back response rate was 53 percent in Hamilton, 54 percent in Fairfield and 50 percent in Oxford. It was 55 percent countywide, 51 percent across Ohio. Hamilton’s response rate in the 2000 census was 74 percent, while the state’s was 77 percent.
Those who don’t fill out the form or don’t answer all the questions will likely get a phone call or home visit from a census taker, according to Donna Marsh, regional census bureau spokeswoman.
Census officials said those who boycott the census could end up costing taxpayers more money as enumerators are hired to fill in the blanks.
In addition to determining Ohio’s representation in Congress, an accurate count is important in properly distributing $400 billion in federal funds awarded based on census data.
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