The U.S. Census Bureau today reported that 93.8% of Maryland housing units have been accounted for in the 2020 Census with 26% counted by census takers and other field data collection operations, and 65.8% of housing units responding online, by phone, or by mail.

According to the data — which includes each state’s housing enumeration progress through both self-response and by census takers through a process known as Nonresponse Followup —  91.8% of America’s housing units have been accounted for, with 26% counted by census takers and field operations, and 65.8% of housing units self-reporting.

The census requires counting an increasingly diverse and growing population of around 330 million people in more than 140 million housing units in the United States. As previously reported on Conduit Street, the U.S. Census Bureau last month announced that it will end all counting efforts on September 30, one month earlier than originally planned.

Census data is used to allocate billions of dollars in federal funding for education, health, transportation, housing, community services, and job training. Moreover, businesses and industries decide where to locate new facilities and services based on census data, creating new jobs and promoting economic growth.

The U.S. Constitution places the census at the foundation of our democracy by calling for a count of the nation’s residents every 10 years. The results of the census determine the number of seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the data is used to draw congressional and state legislative districts.

An accurate census count, or lack thereof, has a lasting effect on counties, particularly when it comes to the distribution of federal funds. An under-counted population may lead to a significant decline in federal funding flowing to county governments or to county residents.

View census counts by county by visiting the Maryland Census website, where they’ve added this informative chart.