CB00-FF.04                                            March 29, 2000

                           Census Day, 2000 

Census Day, April 1, 2000, is finally here. To mark this first census of
population of the new century, the Census Bureau this month presents basic
facts about Census 2000:


Questionnaires

- Census questionnaires have been delivered to about 120 million housing
units in the nation's 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Approximately 300,000 census questionnaires will be delivered to the U.S.
Island Areas (Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin
Islands) by the end of March.

- Of the questionnaire packages delivered, approximately 99 million were
delivered by U.S. Postal Service letter carriers; the remaining 23 million
were hand-delivered by Census Bureau enumerators to housing units, mostly
in rural areas, that do not use street names and house numbers for mail
delivery.

- All told, we expect to count about 275 million people in the 50 states
and the District of Columbia.

- A grand total of 398 million census questionnaires were printed -- 112
million short forms, 24 million long forms, 206 million forms for
non-response follow-up by enumerators and 56 million to be placed at "Be
Counted" sites.

- About 14,000 tons of recycled paper were used to print all the census
forms; 700 tractor trailers were used to transport the forms from printers
to post offices.

- Questionnaires are available in six different languages: English,
Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese. Language assistance
guides, intended to help respondents fill out their English questionnaire,
are available in 49 languages.

- The Census 2000 short form is the shortest decennial census form in 180
years. It asks seven questions -- name, sex, age, relationship, Hispanic
origin, race and housing tenure (whether the home is owned or rented) --
and takes about 10 minutes to complete. Most housing units in the country
(about 83 percent) received the short form.

- The Census 2000 long form, sent to 17 percent of housing units, asks the
same questions as the short form, plus 45 more (e.g., education, ancestry,
employment, disability and home heating fuel) for a total of 52 questions.
The average household can complete this form in about 38 minutes.

- For the first time ever, people answering the census may select more
than one racial category to indicate mixed racial heritage. The groups
shown in the census race question collapse into the five race groups
required by the federal government: White; Black or African American;
American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; and Native Hawaiian and Other
Pacific Islanders. The Census Bureau adds a sixth category, some other
race. Tabulations will be available for 63 race categories -- six single
race categories and 57 different combinations of two or more races.

- The Census Bureau expects between 40 million and 70 million
questionnaires to be returned during the weeks of March 13 and March 20.

- Some day, there may be no need for paper census questionnaires: Census
2000 will be the first in which many households can respond online.

Hiring

- The Census Bureau plans to hire and train more than half a million
people to conduct Census 2000; these temporary workers are drawn from a
pool of 3 million applicants. As of February, more than 60 percent of the
applicants were women and more than 65 percent of total applicants, 40 or
older.

- Enumerator pay rates range from $8.25 per hour to $18.50 per hour.

- It costs taxpayers an extra $35 each time an enumerator goes out to
retrieve a census form. On the other hand, it cost only $3 if the
respondent mails their form back.

Facilities

- To ensure that the census operates smoothly, the Census Bureau has
opened 520 Local Census Offices, 12 Regional Census Centers and four Data
Processing Centers nationwide. These facilities collectively take up 4.5
million square feet of office space.

- The Local Census Offices are equipped with their own local area computer
networks, 7,800 personal computers and 2,600 printers. All these offices
are linked to their regional census centers through an integrated national
network.

- Nationwide, there are approximately 27,000 Census 2000 Questionnaire
Assistance Centers, which provide assistance to individuals who might have
difficulty completing the questionnaire because of language or other
barriers. In addition, there were over 16,000 Be Counted sites, where
people can obtain an unaddressed questionnaire.

Tools

- More than 20 million maps are being used for Census 2000 field work.

- As of March 10, the Census Bureau had shipped almost 1.5 million teacher
kits to schools around the country as part of its Census in Schools
program.

Uses of Census Data

- More than $185 billion in federal funds are distributed annually to
localities based on census data.

- By law, the Census Bureau must deliver resident population counts for
each state to the President by December 31, 2000 to determine the number
of members of the House of Representatives each of the 50 states is
entitled to have.

- The Census Bureau is required to provide small-area population counts to
the legislature and governor of each state by April 1, 2001 for use in
redrawing Congressional and state legislative district boundaries.

Promotion

- A fleet of 12 Census 2000 Road Tour vehicles are now in the midst of a
60-day odyssey to publicize the census. The tour will make thousands of
stops across the country from mid-February to mid- April. Each vehicle is
equipped with exhibits, videos, printed information and other giveaways.

- Since Nov. 1, television ads promoting Census 2000 participation have
appeared on every major broadcast network in the nation, as well as many
cable networks. Radio, too, is a critical component of the Census 2000
advertising campaign. More than 170,000 radio spots in 17 languages are
running during the ad campaign.

__________________________________________________________________________
Previous 2000 Census Bureau Facts for Features: African American History
Month (February 1-29), Valentine's Day (February 14) and Women's History
Month (March 1-31). Questions or comments should be directed to the Census
Bureau's Public Information Office (tel: 301-457-3030; fax: 301-457-3670;
e-mail: pio@census.gov).