By Rylie Friesen–
With some households still not responding by the Sept. 30 deadline, the US Census Bureau has again extended its deadline for the 2020 national headcount.
The new deadline is now Oct. 31, 2020. The Census Bureau originally intended for a much earlier deadline, but operations were put on a halt for the wellbeing of the workers due to COVID-19.
As of Oct. 2, the US Census Bureau reports 99.8% of U.S. household units have been counted, up significantly from 62% in July. More than a dozen states report a 99.9% completion rate, while Alabama has the lowest completion rate of 96.2%, according to the bureau’s website.
The census is a nationwide headcount of the total United States population that takes place every ten years and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution for purposes of determining how many representatives each state will have in congress. Billions of dollars in federal funding are also allocated to states and communities based on census data.
Failure to respond to the census could result in an undercount of an area’s population, leading to less funding for the area.
Residents can fill out the census online, over the phone with a live person, or through mail. Responses can be submitted at 2020census.gov.
