Image created by LVEDC Director of Marketing Liz Martin.

More than 56% of Lehigh Valley households have completed the mandatory 2020 Census so far, outpacing the statewide average of 50.3%.

The response rate puts Lehigh and Northampton counties among the top 10 Pennsylvania counties with the largest percentage of responses to date, according to results posted April 15 on the Census tracker.

The Census, a once-a-decade mandatory counting established by Article I of the Constitution, is the basis for the distribution of federal dollars communities stand to receive for schools, roads, parks and bridges as well as political representation in Congress.

The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation uses Census data to recruit businesses and attract and retain talent to the region, which had a GDP that reached $41.2 billion in 2018.

The 2010 Census put the population at 648,207 in Lehigh Valley. Subsequent Census estimates have shown that Lehigh and Northampton counties are among only 20 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties that have grown in population since 2010.