Officials say the mail-in phase of the 2010 Census is coming to an end, and Chicago’s participation is falling short of the goal.

So far 63 percent of Chicago households have mailed back the 2010 census forms. That number falls well below Illinois’ participation rate of 75 percent and the national goal of 72 percent.

Census officials say the mail-in phase has ended, but the count isn’t over yet. Households that didn’t return a census form can expect an enumerator to come knocking at their doors starting this week on into July.

Census officials are still analyzing the non-response numbers, but they call the overall participation so far a major achievement.

The Census Bureau is scheduled to deliver population information to the President by December. The data is used to apportion congressional seats and distribute federal funds.