Alaska Beat

Alaska dead last for Census compliance

According to AllGov, after the village of Noorvik kicked off the 2010 Census by being the first community tallied, Alaska ended up with the lowest response rate in the national count, with about 42 percent of the population participating. That's not exactly stunning news, though. Alaska's rural areas are vast, and mail service can be sketchy even where it exists. In fact, Maine's North Woods and most of Alaska are the only two areas in the country that the Census bureau flags for special travel allowances. Nationwide, though, the percentage of citizens standing up to be counted was down considerably. Read more, here. Another classic Alaska paradox: The state receiving the largest per-capita amount of federal dollars also has the lowest rate of compliance with a federal effort that in part determines where that bounty goes.

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