Census workers going door to door; C.O. on track for accurate count, official says

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- If you get an unexpected knock at your front door, it could be because you still need to fill out your 2020 Census form.

Census workers are going door to door for a second week in Central Oregon to reach those who have not yet responded, part of a nationwide effort to ensure as accurate a count as possible.

The current self-response rate for Oregon is 66 percent, higher than the national response rate of 63 percent. Oregon Census Bureau representative Misty Slater says door-to-door followups began on July 30 across Oregon's 36 counties for those who have not mailed, emailed or responded online.

Deschutes County's response rate so far is 60 percent, while Jefferson County's is 51 percent and Crook County 62 percent. That's fairly close to the completion rates seen in the last census, a decade ago.

The Census Bureau requested an extension for the month of October and was denied, setting the deadline at Sept. 30.

With the changes and delays caused by the pandemic, Slater said they are still on track with getting an accurate count.

"The Census Bureau has plotted where they believed the self-response rate would be at certain points in time," Slater said. "Once we kicked off the self-response rate, the self response on March 12th, we have been ahead, every time they have plotted a point. The self-response rate in the nation has been better than the bureau has expected."

Slater said they are also still hiring for people interested in working as a census counter. She said each representative will keep a six-foot distance, wear a mask and are trained on COVID-19 safety practices.