2020 Census Non-English Language Support Press Kit

The U.S. Census Bureau offers more language support for the decennial census than ever before – online, by phone and by mail.

March 09, 2020

People can respond to the 2020 Census online or by phone in 12 languages, in addition to English. Consequently, 99% of all households will be able to respond to the census in their language. Furthermore, the Census Bureau will help people respond in 59 non-English languages by providing language guides to assist in filling out the English paper questionnaire.

News Release

PRESS RELEASE | APRIL 10, 2020

U.S. Census Bureau Adapts Operations to Increase Call Center Capacity

To increase call center capacity, the Census Bureau is reinstating the callback option and making more employees available to respond to requests.

PRESS RELEASE | APRIL 02, 2020

U.S. Census Bureau Statement on 2020 Census Call Centers

Due to staffing adjustments driven by guidance regarding COVID-19, the Census Bureau is working to mitigate the impact on 2020 Census call centers.

PRESS RELEASE | MARCH 09, 2020

The 2020 Census Speaks More Languages

Over 99% of all U.S. households will be able to respond to the census in their language.

Language Support Information

2020 Census mailings will include instructions in 12 languages in addition to English on how to respond online or by phone. The instructions will detail how to access non-English questionnaires online and will include a separate phone number for each language for contacting phone support.

The Census Bureau will also provide additional materials for the 59 non-English languages supported by the 2020 Census.

American Sign Language
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Amenian
Bengali
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Burmese
Chinese
Croatian
Czech
Dutch
Farsi
French
German
Greek
Gujarati
Haitian Creole
Hebrew

Hindi
Hmong
Hungarian
Igbo
Ilocano
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Khmer
Korean
Laotian
Lithuanian
Malayalam
Marathi
Navajo
Nepali
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Romanian

Russian
Serbian
Sinhala
Spanish
Slovak
Somali
Swahili
Tagalog
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Tigrinya
Turkish
Twi
Ukrainian
Urdu
Vietnamese
Yiddish
Yoruba

Materials include:

Language guides: Available in video and print. These guides will assist respondents in completing the census questionnaire.
Language identification cards: These cards will assist census takers in identifying a language spoken by a household.
Language glossaries: These glossaries provide key terms used in the 2020 census materials.

Language Support Resources

FEBRUARY 27, 2018

Memo: 2020 Census Non-English Language Support

This memorandum documents the 2020 Census Program decision regarding the number of non-English languages that will be supported, and the level of support, during the 2020 Census operations.

AUGUST 16, 2019

Memo: Census Questionnaire Assistance (CQA) Phone Numbers

This memo documents the Census Questionnaire Assistance (CQA) phone numbers available to the public starting March 1, 2020 for assistance during the 2020 Census.

2020 Census Non-English Language Support

Support available for non-English languages - language glossaries, language guides, phone support/response, internet self-response and language identification.