U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves today congratulated those communities who are making history by helping to boost the mail participation rates across the Nation.

Brown County has already surpassed the participation rate achieved in the 2000 Census.  As of Friday, Brown County is at a 64% participation rate for the 2010 Census, but only achieved 62% in 2000.  Hundreds of cities and counties across the country have already met or exceeded their mail participation rate from the 2000 Census as well. The announcement comes with just one week remaining before the Census Bureau must shift away from accepting forms by mail, and start preparing to send more than 600,000 census takers door-to-door to count households that failed to mail their forms back.

“I’d like to congratulate the residents of these states, counties and cities who completed and mailed back their census forms,” Groves said. “Greater participation means a more complete and accurate count, as well as fewer households that we’ll need to visit in person beginning in May. I also encourage them to keep it going. Every increase in response can help us save money on the expensive follow up to non-responding households, “Groves added.

Since the first forms were delivered in March, the Census Bureau has urged all communities to take on the challenge of exceeding their mail participation rates from the 2000 Census. An interactive online map and a customizable Web “widget” have given communities the ability to track their own progress towards winning the “Take 10 Challenge,” named after the 10 minutes or less required to fill out the form.

Nationwide, 65 percent of households have mailed back their census forms heading into the last week. The Take 10 Challenge for the nation is to exceed the mail participation rate of 72 percent achieved a decade ago – when America reversed a three-decade decline in mail participation.