The numbers are in — and Iowa had the best response rate to the U-S Census of any state in the nation.Kenneth Prewitt is the director of the U-S Census Bureau in Washington D-C. He says Iowans clearly have a great sense of civic responsibility and duty.Iowa had a 76-percent response rate while Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska tied at 75-percent and South Dakota had 74-percent. Iowa also had a 76-percent response rate during the 1990 census. The U-S response rate overall was 67-percent, a two-percent rise. Prewitt says it’ll still be a few months before the population numbers are known. He says final totals will be released in December.The tiny northeastern Iowa town of St. Lucas in Fayette County was the nation’s most responsive city at 97-percent. Eleven Iowa cities had response rates over 90-percent. Also, 172 of Iowa’s 949 cities had rates over 80-percent. Prewitt says the eastern Iowa city of Davenport truly shone on the 2000 census, while two of central Iowa’s largest cities dropped a bit this time.Ames had 77-percent while Des Moines had 70-percent, both two-percentage points lower than in 1990. Davenport was the state’s most-improved city for 2000, rising from 68 to 74-percent.
