The 2020 Census is happening now.
You can respond online, by phone, or by mail.
Your response matters.
Health clinics. Fire departments. Schools. Even roads and highways. The census can shape many different aspects of your community.
Census results help determine how billions of dollars
in federal funding flow into states and communities
each year.
The results determine how many seats in Congress
each state gets.
It’s mandated by the U.S. Constitution in Article 1,
Section 2: The U.S. has counted its population
every 10 years since 1790.
NON-RESPONSE FOLLOW-UP (NRFU)
Census takers have started visiting homes that have not responded to the Census on August 11. All Census takers are required to wear masks, regardless of state and local guidelines. They will knock on doors and immediately step back six feet to create appropriate space between themselves and the respondents. Census takers will be given additional masks to provide residents should they need one, as well as a hand sanitizer. They will be using an app to collect information, which means they will no longer pass paperwork back and forth with respondents.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Census takers will wear masks and follow local public health guidelines when they visit your home. All census takers complete a virtual COVID-19 training on social distancing and other health and safety protocols before beginning their work in neighborhoods.
Census takers are hired from your area, and their goal is to help you and everyone in your home be counted in the 2020 Census. If the census taker who visits your home does not speak your language, you may request a return visit from a census taker who does speak your language.
Census takers work between 9am and 9pm, including weekends. If no one is home when the census taker visits, the census taker will leave a notice of their visit with information about how to respond online, by phone or by mail.
If you respond online or by phone today, a census taker is less likely to have to visit your home to collect your response. Visit 2020CENSUS.GOV
HOW CAN YOU VERIFY THAT SOMEONE IS A CENSUS TAKER?
If someone visits your home this year to collect information for the 2020 Census, check to make sure they have a valid ID badge with their photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark, and an expiration date. Census workers may also carry Census Bureau bags and other equipment with the Census Bureau logo.
A look at some of the items that a census taker may carry with them, including a laptop, laptop bag, confidentiality notices, and an “Official Business” notice for their vehicle. Census takers may also deliver a paper questionnaire by hanging it on the front door in a water-resistant plastic bag.
UPDATED CENSUS DEADLINE
During the second quarter of 2020, the Census Bureau shared plans to extend the Census deadline to October 31 from July 31 to address operational delays brought forth by COVID-19. However, the Bureau provided an update regarding the end to all of its counting efforts on September 30, a month sooner than previously announced. This includes critical door-knocking efforts and response collection online, phone and mail. The latest move is part of the Bureau’s efforts to accelerate the completion of data collection and apportionment counts by the statutory deadline of December 31, 2020, as required by law.
CENSUS TIMELINE
Below you will find the schedule modifications across the various Census operational phases.
|
Activity |
Original Schedule | Updated Schedule |
| Self-Response Phase | March 12 – July 31 | March 12 – September 30 |
| Mobile Census Questionnaire | March 30 – July 31 | Started in July |
| Non-Response Follow-Up (NRFU): In-person enumeration by Census taker. | May 13 – July 31 | August 11 – September 30 |
| Service-Based Enumeration & Homeless/Displaced Count | March 30 – April 1 | September 22 – 24 |
| Deliver Apportionment Count to the President | December 31, 2020 | December 31, 2020* |
| Deliver Redistricting Count to States | April 1, 2021 | April 1, 2021* |
|
*Pending Census Bureau confirmation |
||
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit the U.S. Census Bureau on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, or visit their Website. To learn more about the Census in Milpitas, contact the City Manager’s Office at (408) 586-3055.