Carbon County officials remind residents to fill out the U.S. Census if they haven’t already done so because it could mean the difference of getting funding for the county and municipalities or losing it.

On Thursday, Commissioners Chris Lukasevich and Wayne Nothstein both urged residents to fill out the census because it could cost Carbon County alone $2,000 per person in federal funding every year over the next decade.

“It is extremely important everyone responds in the census,” Nothstein said.

Lukasevich said that as of the close of business on Wednesday, Carbon County’s response rate stood at 56.9 percent, which is 9 percent lower than the state response rate of 65.1 percent.

Most other counties surrounding Carbon are responding more overall, with the exception of Monroe.

According to the U.S. Census response rate forms, neighboring Monroe County stands at a 48.8 percent response rate, while Lehigh is 71.7 percent; Northampton is 72.5 percent and Schuylkill is 61.5 percent.

“Please complete your survey,” Lukasevich said, adding that the census bureau will be opening mobile sites for those who did not fill out the survey yet.

The 2020 census is available online and doesn’t take long to fill out, the board said.

Census results determine everything from funding for education, health care services, transportation projects and more, to the number of seats a state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The 2020 census can be filled out at 2020Census.gov, by calling 844-330-2020 or by mail.