The U.S. Census Bureau will begin its door-to-door effort in all Michigan communities to follow up with people who have not yet responded to the census starting Tuesday, Aug. 11
Michigan’s door-to-door effort launched on a limited basis last week on Thursday, Aug. 6, but only in the Greater Lansing-area and Oakland County. Now, census workers will conduct the door-to-door push throughout the rest of the state beginning Tuesday as part of the “Be Counted” campaign’s aim to ensure every Michigander is counted in the 2020 Census.
All census takers are required to complete a COVID-19 safety course, maintain a social distance outdoors during census interviews and wear masks to protect the health and safety of all Michiganders. Census takers will only visit homes of Michiganders who have not completed the census by mail, phone or online. All three options will still be available once door-to-door census taking begins. The door-to-door outreach effort comes with a heightened sense of urgency after the Trump Administration announced last week that census operations will end one month early on September 30. This includes online, in-person and phone responses, which previously were set to end on October 31. Go to michigan.gov/census2020/ or census.gov for more information on what to expect if visited by a census taker.
The 2020 census includes just nine questions, including name, age, gender, ethnicity, race, number of people in the household, anyone else staying in the house on April 1, 2020, if you own or rent your home and your phone number.
Filling out the 2020 census is more convenient than ever, and can be completed by mail, phone and – for the first time – online. All information shared on the census is 100% confidential and helps determine federal funding for health care, education, senior programs and other services Michiganders rely on every day. An accurate census count also determines how many seats Michigan has in Congress.
