People still have the opportunity to respond to the U.S. Census online, by phone or by mail. The Secretary of Commerce announced that the target date for concluding self responses and field data collection has been extended to Monday Oct. 5.

Conducted every 10 years, the census impacts how federal funding is divided across the country. The count helps the government determine how many seats each state should have in Congress and how to distribute federal funds to local communities. The results help decide how money is allocated for things like school funding, restoring wildlife and providing housing assistance for the elderly.

In Mississippi, only 60 percent of housing units have self-responded, lower than the national rate of self-response, 66.5 percent. In Mississippi, 36 percent of housing units have been enumerated in nonresponse follow up, so 96 percent of housing units have been enumerated.

In the city of Picayune 60.9 percent of households responded to the census online, by mail or by phone while 54.7 percent of Poplarville households responded online, by mail or by phone.

Households who have not completed the census can do so at 2020census.gov.