San Mateo County is leading the state in census returns with 72.8 percent of households having responded as of Tuesday, but county officials say more work is needed to ensure that the hardest to count populations are included.

Despite the many obstacles to a full count — including the worsening novel coronavirus pandemic, language barriers and widespread distrust of the federal government among critical population groups — San Mateo County has nearly reached its 2010-level of participation, which came in at 73.2 percent in the last decennial effort to count every person in the country.

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Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.