"Livonia, Michigan, had the highest census participation rate not because of what it did – but because of what it is."

How, you ask? The answer is nothing unusual. Livonia did the same things that other cities did. Livonia coordinated its census efforts with schools, the media and business groups; it reached out to snowbirds, who might miss the arrival of census forms; it had census posters, signs and public service announcements. "We're pretty proud of the work that was done," says Dave Varga, Livonia's director of administrative services, "and more proud of the response of the community."

"The bedroom community near Detroit scored an 87 percent mail participation rate in the census this spring--the highest of any city of at least 50,000 people."