What A Census Effort Cut Short Could Mean For The Data

The Census Bureau is reportedly trimming efforts to conduct in-person interviews for the census, ending them on Sept. 30 rather than the previously planned Oct. 31, census workers told NPR last week.

Census Count's Importance: The U.S. Census is a constitutionally mandated government event used to count the U.S. population every 10 years. The count is then used to determine such things as the drawing of congressional districts and, most importantly, the allocation of billions in funding to state and local governments.

The 2020 census is the 24th time the government has tried to count the population since 1790.

Why Door Knocking? The census is conducted either electronically, by mail or by individual door knockers asking a variety of questions for individual households. Since the effort began in March, 62.9% of households have responded.

In-person door knocking was postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis, and the window to go door-to-door was extended to the end of October.

The government was granted additional funding to complete the door knocking at an accelerated rate earlier this year, with the White House reportedly wanting the numbers available before the end of the year.

What This Means: With less than two-thirds of the country reporting back to the census and the possibility of cutting down how many people can be counted through door-to-door efforts, it leaves the possibility for undercounting.

The Census does have ways to statistically account for missing numbers — but it's time to fill out the census if you haven't done so already.