Rural counties that voted strongly for McCain are likelier to have low census-return rates so far

Why do census return rates vary so widely? One factor appears to be the rurality of the county. Statistical analysis by the Daily Yonder shows that as of April 5, purely rural counties had a 56.9 percent return rate, while the national rate was 60 percent, Roberto Gallardo reports. Conversely, urban counties and those with small cities both have return rates above the national average: 62.5 and 61.2 percent, respectively.

What other factors did the analysis find? Only 42 percent of counties that voted more strongly for John McCain had census return rates above the national average. "In other words, the more votes McCain received in a county in 2008, the fewer census forms that county has returned by April 5, 2010," Gallardo writes, calling the relationship statistically significant. Just under a third of counties with poverty rates above the national average are also above the national average in Census return rates, but 67 percent of counties that are whiter than the national average have return rates higher than the national rate. (Read more) (Yonder map, data as of April 5)