By April 1, 2020, every home will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. The best way to avoid a follow-up visit from a census taker is to fill out the 2020 Census questionnaire online, by phone or by mail as soon as you receive your invitation to participate.
Counting every person living in the United States requires years of planning and coordination. The timeline below provides a snapshot of the next steps in the process of conducting the 2020 Census count.
• March 12 - 20: Households will begin receiving official Census Bureau mail with detailed information on how to respond to the 2020 Census online, by phone or by mail.
• March 30 - April 1: The Census Bureau will count people who are experiencing homelessness over these three days. As part of this process, the Census Bureau counts people in shelters, at soup kitchens and mobile food vans, on the streets and at non-sheltered, outdoor locations such as tent encampments.
• April 1: Census Day is observed nationwide. By this date, every home will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. Once the invitation arrives, you should respond for your home in one of three ways: online, by phone or by mail. When you respond to the Census, you'll tell the Census Bureau where you live as of April 1, 2020.
• April: Census takers will begin visiting college students who live on campus, people living in senior centers, and others who live among large groups of people. Census takers also begin conducting quality check interviews to help ensure an accurate count.
• May - July: Census takers will begin visiting homes that haven't responded to the 2020 Census to help make sure everyone is counted.
How do I respond?
By April 1, 2020, every home will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. You will have three options for responding:
• Online (or mobile device)
• By phone
• By mail
Special Circumstances
For some people, it's not clear how they should count themselves or the people in their home. These circumstances may include:
• People who live in more than one place.
• People who are moving on Census Day (April 1, 2020).
• People who are born or die on Census Day (April 1, 2020).
• People experiencing homelessness.
For more information on how to be counted under special circumstances, visit Who to Count.
Students
Tallahassee-Leon County is home to nearly 100,000 college students from FSU, FAMU and TCC. College students are an important part of the Census Complete Count and should be counted as follows:
• College students that live at home should be counted at their home address.
• College students that live away from home should be counted at their on or off campus residence where they sleep most of the time, even if they are at home on April 1, 2020.
What about students that reside in group living arrangements, like sorority or fraternity houses, dorms, residence halls, etc?
Students living in a group living arrangement on April 1, 2020 are counted through a special process conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
For more information on how this process is conducted, visit Counting People in Group Living Arrangements.
What about study abroad students and foreign students?
U.S. college students who are living and attending college outside of the United States are NOT counted in the Census. In addition, foreign students living and attending college in the U.S. should be counted at the on-or off-campus residence where they live and sleep most of the time.
I am not a U.S. citizen. Do I need to fill out the Census?
Yes. Everyone should fill out the 2020 Census, regardless of citizenship status. The 2020 Census counts every person living in the United States, and that includes non-citizens. On June 27, 2019, the Supreme Court blocked the citizen question- “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” from appearing on the official 2020 Census Questionnaire.