2020 Census: Home

• January 2020 - Census Questionnaire Assistance will be available to answer general questions about the census from mid-January through early September 2020, However, the self-response period for the telephone option will run from mid-March through the end of July.
• February 2020 - The Census Bureau wil contact administrators of group quarters (military barracks, college dorms, prosins, and skilled nursing homes, amng others) in advance of the enumeration of these locations, which will occur in April.
• March 12, 2020 - The internet self-response periods will start as households begin to receive invitations to respond, either through the mail or hand-delivered to households in many rural and remote areas. Households may continue to self-respond through July 31.
• March 30, 2020 - Service-Based Enumeration (SBE) will begin. This three-day/night enumeration occurs at shelter, locations that provide services for people experiencing homelessness, and targeted outdoor locations where people experiencing homelessness sleep. 
• April 1, 2020 - Census Day! Respondents do not have to wait until April 1 to respond but should include everyone who will be a "usual resident" on April 1. If people aren't sure, they can wait until April 1 to respond. 
• April 2020 - Group quarters will be counted during April.
• May 13, 2020 - Nonresponsive Follow-up (NRFU) will begin. During NRFU, the Census Bureau will follow up with households that did not self-respond to the census by sending reminders and/or visiting in person. NRFU will continue through July. (In communities with large numbers of off-campus college students, NRFU will begin on April 9, to reach students before the academic term ends.)   

The census, conducted once every ten years, is the constitutionally-required count of every person living in the United States. It's a huge and complex endeavor, one with an enormous impact on all our communities. The 2020 Census will be the first to urge most households to respond online, but people will have the option of responding by phone or paper questionnaire.

The decennial census form asks questions about all the people who live and sleep in a household most of the time--including babies and anyone who has no other permanent place to stay and is staying on the house hold--as of April 1, 2020. The census form should take about 10 minutes to complete, depending on the number of people in the household.

Census data are used to make decisions about how and where to spend more than $800 billion each year for programs and services that communities rely on. The census population count is used to determine representation in Congress (known as reapportionment) and the Electoral College. Simply put, communities that are undercounted are disadvantaged economically and politically. 

Communities also use census data for planning purposes. For example, local school districts may not be able to plan effectively for changing needs if large numbers of young children are not counted, as has been the case in previous censuses. Census data help local leaders make planning decisions about where municipal services should be located, whether they should expand, and what kinds of services should be offered based on the characteristics of the community.

We only have one shot every ten years to get the census right. If we don't, undercounted groups won't get the appropriate level of funding for programs needed in their neighborhoods, and local leaders and officials won't have the reliable information they need to make decisions.   

The text of the opinion concerning the citizenship question is available here.

Census Bureau​

• 2020 Census page 

American Library Association

• ALA 2020 census page
• Libraries and the 2020 Census: Vital Partners for a Complete Count

​Georgetown Center on Poverty and inequality (GCPI)

• GCPI census page
• Other relevant publications
  • Why a Fair and Accurate Census Matters to Thriving Private and Public Sectors
  • Why the Census Matters for Rural America: Defining, Understanding, and Investing in Rural Communities 
  • Counting Everyone in the Digital Age: The Implications of Technology Use in the 2020 Decennial Census for the Count of Disadvantaged Groups 

Other Resources 

• CensusCounts.org 
• Map of Closest Library in Hard to Count (HTC) Communities (click on map overlays)