Have you not responded to the 2020 U.S. Census survey yet? 

Neither have 37 percent of Americans, according to response rates updated daily by the federal U.S. Census Bureau.

That number is even lower in Washington, D.C., where 40.3 percent of households haven’t responded to the once-every-decade survey, according to early August data.

Now the U.S. Census will cut off data collection by September 30 to allow time to compile and submit results by the end of the year, as required by law. 

“Building on our successful and innovative internet response option, the dedicated women and men of the Census Bureau, including our temporary workforce deploying in communities across the country in upcoming weeks, will work diligently to achieve an accurate count,” U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said in a statement.

Who knew compiling information from 93.1 million households during a pandemic could be so hard? Quick napkin math shows there are still almost 34.5 million households yet to respond.

The 63-percent response rate so far lags far behind the 2010 U.S. Census survey, according to the Los Angeles Times, which reports that 75 percent of households responded to phone or mail surveys (internet surveys weren’t an option back then).

“Under this plan, the Census Bureau intends to meet a similar level of household responses as collected in prior censuses, including outreach to hard-to-count communities,” Dillingham said in a statement. 

To help make this all possible, the U.S. Census is hiring and training more field workers than ever before after initially delaying door-knocking because of COVID-19 concerns. During the week of July 19-25, nearly 84,000 paid temporary workers hit the streets to seek out survey responses across the country. That is triple the number of U.S. Census temporary workers nationally during the last week of June.

In the “Philadelphia” region alone, which includes Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, there were 16,710 U.S. Census workers that last week of July. That was the second most of any region in the country.

Courtesy of U.S. Census Bureau

The District of Columbia ranks 34th nationally for its response rate with 220,000 households filling out the survey already. See how Washington, D.C.’s 59.3-percent response rate compares to the rest of the country in these rankings compiled by the U.S. Census. 

And if you haven’t responded yet and don’t feel like having someone knock on your door during a pandemic, it’s not too late to fill our your 2020 Census online. 

What do you think? Have you filled out the census yet? Tell us in the comments!