US Census Day Has Past, But It's Not Too Late To Be Counted

Census Day has come and gone, but if you haven't filled out your online form yet, you still have time before the Census Bureau comes to you, and you definitely want to be counted.

Every 10 years, April 1 is Census Day. It's the day you give a count to the US government of the number of people who reside in your household. But if you didn't submit your census data to the US government on Wednesday, it's not too late. You still have time to fill out the 2020 census questionnaire.

According to the Census Bureau's website, you have until anywhere between May 27 and August 14 before census takers will conduct home interviews for those who haven't responded. It isn't yet clear how the coronavirus outbreak will affect in-person census taking.

The easiest way to complete the form is online.

Head to the online census questionnaire.
On the Responding Online page, click Respond.
On the Welcome to the 2020 Census Page, click Start Questionnaire.
On the next page, enter your 12-digital census ID to log in.
Complete the dozen or so questions and you're done. Be sure to complete the questionnaire in one sitting because the form doesn't save your responses if you log out before finishing.

You can respond over the phone.

If you'd rather answer over the phone, you can call the census at (844) 330-2020 to speak to a census worker to answer the questions. You can also answer census questions in a language other than English. Head to the census language support site to find phone numbers for other languages.

You can also respond through the mail.

If you received your census questionnaire in the mail, you can fill it out and mail it back to the bureau, using the return envelope that came with the census.

Starting around the middle of April, census takers will start to actively find those who haven't filled out the census to make sure they are counted.

From April 16 to June 19, census takers will work with colleges, senior centers, prisons and other large facilities to count everyone who resides there.

From April 29 to May 1, census takers will count those who are experiencing homelessness in shelters, at soup kitchens and mobile food vans, on the streets and at outdoor locations such as tent encampments.

Then from May 27 to August 14, census takers will go to homes that haven't responded to the census.