The United States Census Bureau will be ending its counting of the Census on September 30^th, a month earlier than than they had originally stated. This now gives households less than two months to complete the survey.

Response rates continue to increase, but a number of local residents still need to respond to the census. Nearly 65 percent of residents living in Washington County have responded to the census, while close to 50 percent of the households in Nowata County have responded and only 45 percent of those living in Osage County have replied. The state response rate sits at just under 60 percent and nearly two-thirds of all Americans have responded.

A recruiting assistant with the Census Bureau, Kathy Tippin says there are many important reasons to fill out the census, including the possibility of adding another congressman for the state. She says it has a major impact on schools, though.

The amount of federal and state money that our local counties receive is based largely off of the census results as well.