Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the Census Bureau does not need congressional approval to extend data collection efforts.
Texas ranks 40th in the country for responding to the 2020 U.S. Census.
About 50% of all households in the country have responded to the national survey that is used to determine everything from U.S. House districts to school lunch funding.
Texas lags with 46% of people overall, or 5.6 million households, having filled out the census so far.
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down many businesses and routine activities, the Census has continued to collect responses.
North Texas, though, has led the way for the rest of the state when it comes to the number of people who have submitted their census responses.
Rockwall County has had roughly 57.7% of its estimated population respond so far, the highest response rate in all of Texas. Collin, Ellis and Denton counties follow its lead, coming in at third and fourth place (Ellis and Denton tied with 54.5% each). Collin County had just a little less than Rockwall, with 57%.
Parker, Tarrant and Johnson are also in the top ten of Texas counties, with all reporting above a 50% response rate. Kaufman and Hood are tied for 13th place, each with 52.2%
Dallas County, however, does not even crack the top 20 in the state and falls below a 50% response rate at 47.7%.
The U.S. Census Bureau has decided to extend its data collection operations to Oct. 31, 2020, because of the pandemic, so you still have time to submit your response if you haven't yet done so.
Paper forms began to arrive in Dallas County last week for those who had not already filled out the census online.
Census field operations, such as door-knocking, are planned to resume again on June 1. They were suspended in the middle of March.
To make sure you're counted, you can fill out the physical form or go online to make sure the region gets the right amount of money for its social services.
