As of July 1, the state of Washington hit an important census milestone when it reached the final self-response rate from 2010.

As of June 29, 67.2 percent of all households in the state have answered the census. This is a remarkable achievement and we could not have done it without all of our partners around the state.

Washington becomes only the second state in the country to reach this milestone (Michigan was the first).

In addition to our state response rate, 17 counties have also reached this important milestone – that’s about 44% of the state.

Here are a few census highlights for Washington:

• Washington has the highest response rate for any state west of the Rocky Mountains and has the sixth highest rate for the entire country.

• Washington is only about 4% behind Minnesota, the number one state for self-response.

• Of the ten largest cities in the state, Spokane has the best response rate (71.5%).

• Of the 50 largest cities in the country, Seattle is ranked number two (edged out by Louisville, Ky.)

• Brier (Snohomish County) has the highest response rate in the state (85.6%). Brier is among the top 100 best-responding municipalities out of 19,197 in the country.

• The state’s oldest incorporated area, Steilacoom (Pierce County) has a response rate of 76.7% making it number 18 in the state. Steilacoom was incorporated in 1854, one year after the Oregon Territory was split into two territories (Washington and Oregon).

• The town of Krupp (aka Marlin) in Grant County is the least-populated incorporated area in the state. With a population of 48, according to the 2010 Census, it has a 2020 response rate of 57.1%.

• The most western census tract in the continental United States is in Clallam County and it has a response rate of 35.2%.

• More than 87 percent of Washington households have answered the 2020 Census online.

We still have work to do; we still need to count about 32.8% of households in the state to reach 100%.

Many of these households represent some of the hardest-to-count populations of people.

Please help us encourage them to self-respond now before census workers start going door-to-door in mid-August as part of the follow-up operation.

It is so easy for people to self-respond now:

1. Online at www.2020census.gov

2. Call toll-free 844-330-2020 (English) or 844-469-2020 (Spanish) from 4 a.m. – 11 p.m.

3. Return paper form (if you received one)