2020 Census Operational Adjustments Due to COVID-19
In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Census Bureau adjusted 2020 Census operations in order to:
- Protect the health and safety of the American public and Census Bureau employees.
- Implement guidance from Federal, State, and local authorities regarding COVID-19.
- Ensure a complete and accurate count of all communities.
Please see: Census Bureau Statement on 2020 Census Data Collection Ending.
Status of Current Operations
Self-Response Phase
Online, phone and mailed self-responses continued throughout the data collection process.
Planned Schedule
March 12 – July 31
Revised Schedule
March 12 - October 15, 2020
Nonresponse Followup (NRFU)
Census takers interviewed households in person. New dates covered areas previously scheduled for "Early NRFU."
Planned Schedule
May 13 – July 31
Revised Schedule
The Census Bureau began soft-launching NRFU on July 16, 2020. All area census offices completed their work by October 15, 2020.
Group Quarters (E-Response & Paper Enumeration)
Many group quarters responded through our e-Response enumeration option.
Planned Schedule
April 2 – June 5
Revised Schedule
April 2 – September 3
Remote Alaska
Early operation to reach parts of Alaska which may be difficult to reach later in the year and whose populations depart for other activities. The operation was mostly completed on the original planned schedule, though some areas with year-round populations were enumerated when it was safe to do so.
Planned Schedule
January 21 – April 30
Revised Schedule
January 21 – August 31
Island Areas
Census takers interviewed households in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This operation was coordinated with the local Island Areas governments. Census takers used paper questionnaires to interview households.
Planned Schedule
February 3 - June 30
Revised Schedule
February 3 - October 15
Field Offices at Peak Operations
Managers and staff commenced administrative, training, deployment and support activities for peak data collection operations. This included selecting and hiring field staff.
Planned Schedule
March 1
Revised Schedule
Phased re-opening occurred between May 4 and June 12.
Update Leave - Stateside
Census takers dropped off invitations to respond and paper questionnaires at the front doors of 5 million households stateside while updating their addresses.
Planned Schedule
March 15 – April 17
Revised Schedule
Phased re-opening occurred between May 4 and June 12.
Update Leave – Puerto Rico
Update Leave operations for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, approximately 1.7 million households, were coordinated separately.
Planned Schedule
March 15 – April 17
Revised Schedule
May 22
Update Enumerate
Census takers interviewed 2,000 households in remote parts of northern Maine and southeast Alaska.
Planned Schedule
March 16 – April 30
Revised Schedule
June 14 – July 29
In-Person Group Quarters Enumeration
Group Quarters that remain as part of our in-person group quarters enumeration efforts began in July.
Planned Schedule
April 2 – June 5
Revised Schedule
July 1 – September 3
Service Based Enumeration
We worked with service providers at soup kitchens, shelters, and regularly scheduled food vans to count the people they serve.
Planned Schedule
March 30 – April 1
Revised Schedule
September 22 - September 24
Mobile Questionnaire Assistance
Census Bureau staff assisted people with responding online at places people gather (events, grocery stores, etc.).
Planned Schedule
March 30 – July 31
Revised Schedule
Through October 15 with limited capacity
Count of People experiencing homelessness outdoors
Census takers counted people under bridges, in parks, in all-night businesses, etc.
Planned Schedule
April 1
Revised Schedule
September 23 - September 24
Enumeration of Transitory Locations
Census takers counted people staying at campgrounds, RV parks, marinas, and hotels – if those people did not usually live elsewhere.
Planned Schedule
April 9 – May 4
Revised Schedule
September 3 – September 28
Process Apportionment Counts
After collection activities are complete, Census Bureau experts run and review output from programs to unduplicate responses, determine final housing unit status, populate any missing housing unit data on household size and finalize the universe to be included in the apportionment count file.
The statutory deadline to provide apportionment counts is December 31, 2020.
Process Redistricting Data
Census Bureau experts run and review programs to populate any missing demographic data for each household, run differential privacy programs to ensure confidentiality and run tabulation programs for each state delivery.
The statutory deadline to provide redistricting data is March 31, 2021.
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