Census forms are due. Mail yours in.

It’s April 1st, and everyone knows what that means, right? It’s National Census Day.

In addition to being a day for playing hilarious pranks on your co-workers, National Census Day is also the day that the Census Bureau has asked that you complete and mail in their census forms if you haven’t already.

According to their website, about 51% of the population in Fayetteville has turned in their census forms as of today. That’s 1% below the national average of 52%.

If you’ve already submitted your form, high five. You don’t need to read any further.

If you haven’t, and are wondering why you should, here’s a bit more information.

Why should I?

For one thing, it’s the law.

For another, data collected from the census is used to determine how many seats Arkansas gets in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as how to allocate more that $400 billion in federal funds for things like hospitals, job training centers, schools, senior centers, emergency services, bridges, tunnels and other-public works projects.

Fill that thing out so Fayetteville gets a chunk of that change.

How many questions are on it?

There are ten questions, but you’ll have to answer them for each person living in your household.

What kind of questions?

It’s definitely not the SAT, if that’s what you’re wondering. If you know your name, phone number, and can count the number of people living in your house, you’re fine.

How long does it take?

The Census Bureau estimates it takes most households less than 10 minutes to fill out the form. It took me about two minutes.

What if I don’t mail it today?

Census takers will begin visiting households that have not completed a form by mail over the next few weeks, and will continue to do so through sometime in July.

In other words, you may as well just mail in the form.

More info on the 2010 Census can be found on the census website.

Happy National Census Day.