Census takers in Central Texas are now following up with households that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census.
The current self-response rate for households in Hays County is 56.7%. The Census Bureau will need to visit the remaining addresses to collect responses in person.
Households can still respond by completing and mailing back the paper questionnaire residents received, by responding online at 2020census.gov, or by phoning 844-330-2020. Households can also respond online or by phone in one of 13 languages and find assistance in many more. Those who do not respond will be visited by census takers.
Protecting Health and Safety
The Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are working together to protect the health and safety of the public and our employees. Participation in 2020 Census interviews should present a low risk of transmission of COVID-19.
Census takers are trained to rigorously and universally follow these CDC recommendations to mitigate the risk of transmission:
• Wearing face masks
• Maintaining social distance of 6 feet or more
• Practicing hand hygiene
• Not entering homes, and conducting interviews outside as much as possible or practical
Household members encountered by census staff are encouraged to maintain social distances during interviews and practice the CDC’s other recommendations as much as possible.
What Households Can Expect
Census takers are hired from local communities. All census takers speak English, and many are bilingual. If a census taker does not speak the householder’s language, the household may request a return visit from a census taker who does. Census takers will also have materials on hand to help identify the household’s language.
If no one is home when the census taker visits, the census taker will leave a notice of his or her visit with information about how to respond online, by phone or by mail. People are encouraged to cooperate with census takers and ensure that everyone who was living in their household as of April 1, 2020, is counted.
How to Identify Census Takers
Census takers can be easily identified by a valid government ID badge with their photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark, and an expiration date on the badge. To confirm a census taker’s identity, the public may contact the Denver/Dallas Regional Census Center at 972-510-1800 to speak with a Census Bureau representative.
About the 2020 Census
The U.S. Constitution mandates a census of the population every 10 years. The goal of the 2020 Census is to count everyone who lives in the United States on April 1, 2020 (Census Day). Census statistics are used to determine the number of seats each state holds in the U.S. House of Representatives and determines how billions of dollars in federal funds will be allocated by state, local and federal lawmakers annually for the next 10 years.
For more information, visit 2020census.gov.
