The Census Bureau has announced a revised timeline for completing the 2020 count, and the deadline for collecting responses is now September 30. Households can still respond online at https://2020census.gov/en.html or via phone or via mail. Census Bureau employees are in the process of visiting households that have not yet responded.
You can track your county’s self-response rate with the Census Bureau’s response rate map, available at https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates/self-response.html. This tool shows response rates at the county level as well as by Census tract. As of September 2, Virginia’s self-response rate was 69.6 percent, ahead of the national rate of 65.1 percent – but rates vary significantly among localities.
The 2020 Census count will shape Virginia’s future for years to come. The Virginia Complete Count Commission points out that Census data is the basis for distributing approximately $675 billion in federal funds annually to state and local governments, with an estimated $2000 lost annually for each person not counted in the Census. Census data will be used in redrawing Congressional, General Assembly, and local election districts, as well as in economic development and other long-term planning efforts by businesses and government.
More information and answers to Frequently Asked Questions may be found at https://2020census.gov/en/help.html.
VACo Contact: Katie Boyle