Census Takers in Your Neighborhood 

What To Expect

Census takers will wear masks and follow local public health guidelines when they visit your home. All census takers complete a virtual COVID-19 training on social distancing and other health and safety protocols before beginning their work in neighborhoods.

Census takers are hired from your area, and their goal is to help you and everyone in your home be counted in the 2020 Census. If the census taker who visits your home does not speak your language, you may request a return visit from a census taker who does speak your language.

Census takers work between 9am and 9pm, including weekends. 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. 

If you respond online or by phone today, a census taker is less likely to have to visit your home to collect your response.

How Can You Verify That Someone Is a Census Taker?

If someone visits your home this year to collect information for the 2020 Census, check to make sure they have a valid ID badge with their photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark, and an expiration date. Census workers may also carry Census Bureau bags and other equipment with the Census Bureau logo.

 

A look at some of the items that a census taker may carry with them, including a laptop, laptop bag, confidentiality notices, and an "Official Business" notice for their vehicle.

 

 

Census takers may also deliver a paper questionnaire by hanging it on the front door in a water-resistant plastic bag.

 

If you still have questions about their identity, you can contact your regional census center to speak with a Census Bureau representative.