Montana’s census response lagging nation

HELENA — With Montana’s response rate in the 2020 census lagging the national average, the state’s census promoters have an uphill climb to retool get-out-the-count efforts that have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even so, the stakes of ensuring the state has the most complete count possible remain sky-high, said panelists participating in an MTFP-organized virtual forum June 18.

As of June 17, 55% of Montana households had returned census forms in either hard copy or via the internet. According to a U.S. census dashboard, that’s 6.5 percentage points behind the nation as a whole.