The U.S. Census Bureau reported today that it has returned $1.6 billion in 2010 Census operational savings.  This is a significant accomplishment and we would like to thank the American people for standing up and being counted and the hundreds of thousands of dedicated census workers all across the country who helped the Census Bureau fulfill this Constitutional mandate.  Our sincerest appreciation also goes out to the more than 255,000 partners who joined us in the important effort.  We could not have done it without you!

The savings are realized from contingency funding set aside in case a major natural disaster or operational breakdown took place, which has not happened.  There were also savings as a result of lower costs during the door-to-door, non-response-follow-up operation mostly because 72 percent of households returned the questionnaire by mail, more than projected or predicted by independent oversight agencies.  This meant fewer homes had to be visited to obtain census answers.  We also have had a more productive workforce, resulting in lower costs, as well as savings in various other operations.  Indeed, nearly all of our 12 major operations were under budget and ahead of schedule.

The 2010 Census is not over yet as we are conducting rigorous quality assurance operations this summer to ensure we have a complete and accurate count.  We remain focused on keeping the census on track while continuing to be vigilant with taxpayer dollars.  As the law requires, we look forward to reporting the nation's population and apportionment of congressional seats by the end of the year.