NJ Census responses hold slight lead over national average

New Jerseyans are responding to the Census at greater rates than most Americans, but responses in some of the state’s most urban counties continue to lag.

Close to two-thirds, 63.3%, of New Jersey residents have provided the Census Bureau with information about their household. Nationally, the response rate was a slightly-lower 61.4%.

Hunterdon county leads the state with a 73% response rate. Morris County trailed close behind with a 72.6% reply rate.

In 2010, 75.1% of Morris County residents responded to the census, the highest participation rate in any county that decade.

Burlington, Gloucester, Somerset and Bergen Counties each reported response rates of roughly 70%, with Burlington leading the best of the rest with a reply rate of 71.5%.

Cape May County continues to boast the fewest replies, with just 29.1% of residents replying to the count. In 2010, just 32.6% of residents there submitted a self-response.

The county’s infrequent replies may be fueled by its high number of part-time residents.

Atlantic, Essex and Hudson are the only other counties to report a response rate below 60%.

In Essex, it was 55.5%, while Hudson had a slightly-lower 52.4%.

Atlantic County’s response rate was 55.1%, apparently pulled down by infrequent replies in Atlantic City and other shore towns in the county.

Replies in Essex and Atlantic Counties aren’t far off from final response rates seen in 2010, though Hudson trails its decade-old final response rate by nearly 9%.