Census visiting non-responding households

NEWS RELEASE

Census takers are working to follow up with Waco and McLennan County households that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census. 

The current self-response rate in McLennan County is 58.5%. The Census Bureau will need to visit the remaining addresses to collect responses in person.

Households can still respond now by completing and mailing back the paper questionnaire they received, by responding online at 2020census.gov, or by phone at 844-330-2020. Households can also respond online or by phone in one of 13 languages and find assistance in many more. Those that respond will not need to be visited to obtain their census response.

Protecting Health and Safety

The Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are working together to protect the health and safety of the public and employees. Participation in 2020 Census interviews should present a low risk of transmission of COVID-19.

Census takers are trained to rigorously and universally follow these CDC recommendations to mitigate the risk of transmission:

• Wearing face masks
• Maintaining social distance of 6 feet or more
• Practicing hand hygiene
• Not entering homes and conducting interviews outside as much as possible or practical

Household members encountered by census staff are encouraged to maintain social distances during interviews and practice the CDC’s other recommendations as much as possible.

Joint statement from the Census Bureau and the CDC

What Households Can Expect

Census takers are hired from local communities. All census takers speak English, and many are bilingual. If a census taker does not speak the householder’s language, the household may request a return visit from a census taker who does. Census takers will also have materials on hand to help identify the household’s language.

If no one is home when the census taker visits, the census taker will leave a notice of their visit with information about how to respond online, by phone or by mail. People are encouraged to cooperate with census takers and ensure that everyone who was living in their household as of April 1, 2020, is counted.

How to Identify Census Takers

Census takers can be easily identified by a valid government ID badge with their photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark, and an expiration date on the badge. To confirm a census taker’s identity, the public may contact the Denver/Dallas Regional Census Center at 972-510-1800 to speak with a Census Bureau representative.

Media requesting b-roll video or photos on how to identify a Census employee can visit this press kit: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-kits/2020/b-roll.html

About the 2020 Census

The U.S. Constitution mandates a census of the population every 10 years. The goal of the 2020 Census is to count everyone who lives in the United States on April 1, 2020 (Census Day). Census statistics are used to determine the number of seats each state holds in the U.S. House of Representatives and informs how billions of dollars in federal funds will be allocated by state, local and federal lawmakers annually for the next 10 years. 

For more information, visit 2020census.gov.