Source: 2010 Census

With the April 1 Census deadline date looming, most Mountain West states are keeping pace with the rest of the nation in returning the forms. Though New Mexico needs to step up it a bit. The state which has historically lagged in participation rates, is also poking around in current mail-ins and has yet to break the 50 percent threshold.

Looking for a job? It’s a good bet the Census Bureau office in Albuquerque will be on a hiring spree soon to conduct door-to-door counts.

You can drill down on your own community Census participation data and compare to neighboring cities, zip codes or states.

Why bother?

The Census says the count “affects the numbers of seats your state occupies in the U.S. House of Representatives. And people from many walks of life use census data to advocate for causes, rescue disaster victims, prevent diseases, research markets, locate pools of skilled workers and more.”

Additionally the math is used to divvy up more than $400 billion dollars of federal funding each year on infrastructure and services like health care, job training centers, schools, senior centers, bridges, tunnels and other-public works projects, and emergency services.

BOOTSTRAP: WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY
The Census has a social media hub and an interactive quiz for individuals, businesses and organizations to help promote the decennial count through Twitter, Facebook and more.

Note on the graph: Only five states are viewable at one time. Utah and Wyoming are tied at a 53 percent participation rate.

UPDATE: The graphic at top contains the most recent figures posted on Mar. 31. Below is the original Mar. 30 graphic. Nice improvement, Mountain States: