Important Dates

Overall Timeline

Counting every person living in the United States is a massive undertaking, and efforts begin years in advance. Here's a look at some of the key dates along the way, as they are currently scheduled:

2020

• By December 31: The Census Bureau will deliver apportionment counts to the President as required by law.

2021

• April 1: By this date, the Census Bureau will send redistricting counts to the states. This information is used to redraw legislative districts based on population changes.

Already Completed:

2019

• January - September: The U.S. Census Bureau opened more than 200 area census offices across the country. These offices supported and managed the census takers who worked all over the country to conduct the census.
• August - October: Census workers visited areas that have experienced a lot of change and growth to ensure that the Census Bureau's address list is up to date. This process is called address canvassing, and it helped in making sure everyone received an invitation to participate in the census.

2020

• January 21: The Census Bureau started counting the population in remote Alaska. The count officially began in the rural Alaskan village of Toksook Bay.
• March 12-20: Households received official Census Bureau mail inviting them to respond to the 2020 Census online, by phone, or by mail. Additional reminders were sent throughout the summer.
  
• April 1: Census Day was observed nationwide. By this date, every home had received an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. Once the invitation arrived, people responded for their home in one of three ways: online, by phone, or by mail. When they responded to the census, they told the Census Bureau where they lived as of April 1, 2020.
• April 16 - June 19: Census takers worked with administrators at colleges, senior centers, prisons, and other facilities that house large groups of people to make sure everyone was counted.
• July 16 - October 15: Census takers interviewed homes that hadn't responded to the 2020 Census to make sure everyone was counted.
• September 23-24: The Census Bureau counted people who were experiencing homelessness As part of this process, the Census Bureau counted people in shelters, at soup kitchens and mobile food vans, and at nonsheltered, outdoor locations such as tent encampments.

Census Day 2020

April 1 was Census Day, a key reference date for the 2020 Census. When completing the census, people marked where they were living—and included everyone living in their home—as of April 1, 2020.