The Decennial Census is an operation to count everyone where they reside in the United States and Puerto Rico every 10 years. It is required by the Constitution of the United States in order to determine the number of representatives each state has in the House of Representatives. Additionally, the data gathered informs how and where we spend billions of dollars across each community in the United States and where we draw new lines that determine elections, emergency services, and school boundaries. For more detailed information, click here.

There is a lot of misinformation and concern that there is a citizenship question.

No there isn’t.

There's a rumor the Census information I provide can be used against me somehow.

It cannot by law, specifically US Code Title 13. Your data cannot be shared with any agency, law enforcement, court, or anyone else at any level of government.

I heard I can only reply by mail.

Incorrect, this is the first Census that you can reply by mail, internet and phone.

I thought the Census isn’t a big deal and you can just not respond.

This especially isn’t true. For ever person not counted in Washington, you community stands to lose $30,000 per person.

Additionally, participation in the Census is required by everyone in America, with the only exception of friends or family visiting for a short time (as in a vacation) from another country.

For more detailed information about rumors, click here.

In March 2020, most US households will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. It will inform them that they can respond by internet, phone, or mail.

Census Day in America will officially be on April 1, 2020.

If you do not self-respond to the Census, you will receive several reminders. If no response is received after the reminders, Census takers will then go to your residence and collect the Census response from you.

It is far easier to spend a few short minutes replying as soon as possible. For more detailed information about Census operations, click here.

The Census asks a few simple questions about you, and those staying with you as of April 1, 2020. This means anyone living with you – regardless of family ties, citizenship, or any other reason.

And more importantly, your replies are safe and confidential AND cannot be used against you or anyone staying with you in any way at all! This is important to understand as this is the main reason people are fearful to respond.

None of the data you provide can be used against you or anyone in your household at all. It is against the law (Title 13) for Census employees to share your data with anyone else. For more detailed information about the Census Questions, click here.

Include everyone staying with you, family, friend, or anyone in between. The only exception is a person who is the resident of another country that is only visiting you for a short time.

This seems simple enough, but sometimes other scenarios pop up that cause confusion.

• How does your child who attends college in another state get counted?
• How does a relative in a skilled nursing facility get counted?
• A friend and their child are staying with you in between moves to an apartment?

The answer is: Where were they staying the majority of the time on April 1, 2020?

For more detailed information about Residence Rules, click here. Also, click here.

You can send your Census by mail. Alternatively, this Census is the first time in the history that you have the option of responding in two additional ways: by phone or by internet. 

Most residences in the United States will receive an invitation by mail to participate in the Census that will include a code. Use this code to respond online or by phone.

It takes just mere minutes to complete the Census, but the results of it will last for the next ten years! For more information about How to Respond to the Census, click here.

Hard to Count Communities (HTC) are individuals or groups of people that have circumstances that make them harder to count than others.

These include people who are hard to reach, contact, persuade to respond, or interview for the 2020 Census.

In rural communities like ours, the terrain may make it harder to contact some people more than others. Additionally, rumors and misinformation about the Census adds to a hesitation to self-respond.

By fighting misinformation, reaching out to everyone about the positive impacts that the Census has, and being vigilant about following up with HTC people and confirming they responded to the Census, we will have the most success!

For more information about HTC groups, click here. Also, click here for a map with helpful information.

The data collected by the Census is only used in aggregate. This is a fancy way of saying only for statistical purposes minus any personally identifiable information, aka PII.

When your data is returned, the information that is specific to you as an exact person, is scrubbed from the data.

To personally identify you, there needs to be your name plus a few other bits of information that distinguishes who you are compared to someone else with your same name for example.

When that information is scrubbed, the only thing left is basic data that doesn’t specifically identify you any longer. And remember, Title 13 guarantees that Census data collected cannot be used against you in any way, by anyone.

For more information about Census Data, click here.