LAS VEGAS - Nevada was one of five states that improved its response rate in the 2000 Census by at least 5 percentage points over the 1990 count, the Census Bureau reported.
Nevada increased its response rates from 61 percent to 66 percent, the fourth best increase in the country.
Nevada was still a percentage below the national average of 67 percent, according to Census Bureau figures released Tuesday. The response rate is a count of households that mailed back the questionnaire.
The mail-in is important to the bureau because it cuts the amount of time and number of people needed to do door-to-door information gathering in the once-a-decade census count.
''We've improved a lot in the last 10 years, but there is always room for improvement,'' said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.
The census numbers are important for doling out federal tax dollars.
''Funding for social services, like education and health care, is based on population,'' she said. ''We have the fastest-growing region in the country. That means the state is always playing catch-up with the rate of growth.
''By improving our response rates, we've increased our piece of that pie.''
Other states that improved the mail-in rates by at least 5 percent were California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Wyoming.
Final census figures will be presented to President Clinton in December.