How to participate

Every household will have the option of responding online, by mail, or by phone. Most households will receive an invitation to participate via a postcard in the mail in mid-March 2020.

The Census Bureau released the Mail Contract Strategies Viewer (available here) which shows how each census tract will be invited to respond. Census tracts will receive a paper questionnaire in the first mailing if the area is expected to have lower internet usage and thus would be more likely to benefit from an earlier paper questionnaire. 

Key census dates:

• March 2020: The Census Bureau will begin to contact households through a series of mailings, so be sure to look for a postcard or survey in the mail.
• April 1, 2020: Census Day is observed nationwide. By this date, households will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census.
• April 2020: Census takers begin following up with households around selected colleges and universities. Census takers also begin conducting quality check interviews.
• May 2020: The Census Bureau will begin sending field staff (called enumerators) out to knock on the doors of households who have not yet responded.
• December 2020: The Census Bureau delivers apportionment counts to the president.

People are to be counted at their usual residence, which is the place where they live and sleep most of the time. Click here to view the Census Memorandum on Residence Criteria and Residence Situations.

 

What you can do

1. Share information about the upcoming Census via your social networks.
2. Join efforts to ensure a complete count in McLean County in 2020.
3. Apply for Census jobs or share recruitment information in your community.
4. Take the Census on or before April 1^st, 2020!