Census Can Be Completed Online

It’s time to be counted and make a difference in your community, but thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 US Census is operating a bit differently this go-around. In an attempt to limit the need for mass, in-person door to door visits by census takers, citizens are being asked to visit the my2020census.gov website and complete their census form online.

The Census form takes about 10 minutes to complete, with all results guaranteed to be safe, secure and confidential. All information and privacy is protected. Each response helps to direct billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities for schools, roads and other public services.

Data from the 2010 US Census count resulted in Pasadena receiving more than $400 million in federal funding to support schools (including children’s free and reduced-cost breakfast and lunch programs), transportation, housing and health care programs. Results from the 2020 Census are also used to determine the number of seats each state has in Congress and political representation at all levels of government.

Because such government spending depends on accurately counting everyone possible in a residence, citizens are asked to count everyone who lives in the home and anyone who sleeps in the home most of the time, including newborns, foster children, grandparents and roommates.

The goal of the census is to count every person living in the United States, once, only once and in the right place. Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution mandates that this population and housing count occur every 10 years. Census data guide how more than $675 billion of federal funding is distributed to states and communities each year.

All US residents are required to by law to respond, and the collection of information has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 protects data from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit respondents’ data. All web data submissions are encrypted in order to protect your privacy.

By law, the Census Bureau can only use responses to produce statistics. The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release responses in a way that could identify respondents or their households. The Census Bureau plans to make results of this study available to the general public. Results will be presented in aggregate form and no personally identifiable information will be published.

For those needing extra help in filling out their responses, or who prefer not to fill out their census forms online, the following numbers are available for assistance from Census employees: (844) 330-2020 for English, (844) 468-2020 for Spanish and (844) 391-2020 for Chinese.