Respond online, by phone, or by mail
Watch your mailbox for an invitation to take the 2020 Census, and make sure to count everyone living in your home when you respond.
The US Census Bureau has started mailing invitations to complete the 2020 Census. Over the next 10 days, each household in Berkeley will receive a letter containing a unique code and instructions for responding.
Respond online, by phone, or by mail
For the first time ever, you can complete the Census online. Visit my2020census.gov to respond today, even if you haven’t received your letter yet. It will take about 10 minutes.
Once you get your invitation in the mail, you can also respond by phone at 1-844-330-2020 using the unique code from your letter.
If you haven’t responded by early April, the Census Bureau will send you a paper questionnaire to complete and return by mail. If you haven’t responded by May, a Census worker will visit your home to collect your answers in person.
Who to count
List every person living with you on your response. This includes immediate and extended family, roommates, and tenants.
Be sure to count all children in your household, no matter how young. Children under five are the most commonly missed group in the Census. If a child splits time between homes, they should be counted where they sleep most of the time. If they split time evenly, count them where they sleep on April 1, 2020.
The Census questionnaire
The Census questionnaire asks for basic information about your household:
- how many people live there
- whether you own or rent
- a phone number to follow up
For each person living in the household, it will ask you to provide their name, sex, age, and race/ethnicity. The Census will not ask about citizenship status.
Why the Census matters
The US Census determines how federal funds are distributed. Each person who gets counted brings back an estimated average of $1,000 per year in funding for critical services and infrastructure, such as affordable housing, schools, roads, public transit, and health care.
For every person that goes uncounted, local communities lose $10,000 over the next decade.
When you get your Census invitation, make sure to respond and count everyone that lives in your home on April 1 to make sure our community gets our fair share over the next 10 years!
