Texans’ lagging response to the U.S. census questionnaire is getting the attention of the higher-ups at the bureau.
U.S. Census Bureau
On the Records: Texas Still Slow on Census
The U.S. Census Bureau today updated its data on how many households had returned the decennial questionnaire. Texas is still seven percentage points behind the national rate — ahead of only Mississippi and Alaska.
Down for the Count
As of Friday, three-quarters of Texans hadn’t returned their census forms. Only five states have a worse rate of participation so far.
On the Records: The Census Gets Interactive
The U.S. Census Bureau recently launched an interactive map that makes it easy to track participation in the decennial count of households. The map application, which relies on the Google Maps API, visualizes the participation rates by color — orange for higher rates, and blue for lower rates.
On the Records: Texas’ Suburban Growth
Seven Texas counties — Rockwall, Williamson, Collin, Hays, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Denton — are listed among the nation’s 30 fastest growing areas, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today. They also voted for John McCain in the 2008 presidential race.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom on the 1.2 million Texans who’ve lost their licenses under the Driver Responsibility Act and the impenetrable black box that is the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Ramshaw and Kraft on nurses with substance abuse problems and rehabilitation that can get them back to work, M. Smith finds it’s not easy being Rick Green, Stiles on counting Texans (and everybody else), Rapoport on the State Board of Education’s war with itself and the runoff in SBOE District 10, Thevenot’s revealing interview with a big-city superintendent on closing bad schools, Aguilar on the tensions over water on the Texas-Mexico border, Hamilton on the new Coffee Party, Hu on Kesha Rogers and why her party doesn’t want her, Philpott on the runoff in HD-47, Ramsey on Bill White and the politics of taxes, and E. Smith’s conversation with Game Change authors Mark Halperin and John Heleimann: The best of our best from March 15 to 19.
The Brief: March 15, 2010
The weekend slaughter in Mexico of two U.S. citizens with ties to the consulate’s office in Ciudad Juarez has sparked outrage from Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have publicly condemned the attacks that left a pregnant consulate employee, her husband and a Mexican national dead.
Let the Counting Begin
Census Bureau questionnaires arrive at 8.4 million Texas homes this week. “Fill that sucker out,” the bureau’s regional director says, “so we don’t have to come and knock on your door.”
“The Texas of Today is the U.S. of Tomorrow”
That’s what former state demographer Steve Murdock says about the dramatic population shifts happening throughout the state and the country — and why they matter.
Census and Sensibility
“You want a good count both because you want to have your representation and because you want to get the resources your community needs,” says demographer Steve Murdock.

