What is the Census?
The Basic Facts
The Census is a count of every person residing in the United States. The count includes people of all ages, races, and ethnic groups, citizens and non-citizens. Article I of the Constitution requires a census of everyone in the United States every ten years, and the next one occurs in 2010. The Census form asks 10 simple questions and can be completed in 10 minutes. Federal law protects the personal information you share during the Census. The information collected is used to distribute Congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $400 billion in federal funds to state and local governments each year.
Census Day is April 1, 2010.
The Census Bureau will mail census forms in mid-March 2010 to all households. The form will take only about 10 minutes to complete. Some areas will receive bilingual Census forms. Census takers will follow up with households that do not respond and assist them in completing their form.