The 2020 Census will be ending on Sept. 30. For those who have received the census information and have not responded, now is the time. Anyone can complete the census by clicking here. Completing the census is mandatory; the U.S. Constitution mandates that everyone in the country be counted every 10 years. 

The process is now in the non-response phase, where census takers visit any residence that has not submitted a census form. Census takers wear a mask, and follow social distancing protocols and other health and safety guidelines. If no one is home when the census taker visits, the census taker will leave a notice of their visit with information about how to respond online, by phone, or by mail. 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.

Your responses to the 2020 Census are safe, secure, and protected by federal law. Your answers can only be used to produce statistics — they cannot be used against you in any way. By law, all responses to U.S. Census Bureau household and business surveys are kept completely confidential.

The results of the census are used to reapportion the House of Representatives and determine how many seats each state gets. The results are used by State officials to redraw boundaries of the congressional and state legislature districts in the state to account for population shifts. Most importantly they effect the distribution of more than $675 billion in federal funds, grants, and support to states, counties, and communities. In 2016 Massachusetts received $22,849,016,142 through 55 Federal spending programs guided by data derived from the 2010 Census. That money is spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works, and other vital programs.