2020 Census FAQ
Below are a variety of questions frequently asked about the 2020 Census and the U.S. Census Bureau in general. If you have additional questions, please contact us at unocpar@unomaha.edu.
The U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 2) mandates a headcount every 10 years, of everyone residing in the United States: in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas. This includes people of all ages, races, ethnic groups, citizens, and noncitizens. The first census was conducted in 1790 and has been carried out every 10 years since then. The population totals from the 2020 census will determine the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives. States also use the totals to redraw their legislative districts. The U.S. Census Bureau must submit state population totals to the President of the United States by December 31, 2020. The totals also affect funding in your community, and data collected in the census help inform decision makers how your community is changing.
The Census Bureau asks the questions they do on the surveys because of federal needs and for community benefits. The information the Census Bureau collects helps determine how more than $675 billion dollars of federal funding annually is spent on infrastructure and services. Your answers help federal, state and local leaders make decisions about: schools, hospitals, emergency services, roads, bridges, job training centers, and many other projects that affect your community.
The 2020 Census asked just a handful of questions: Name; relationship to person 1; sex; age; date of birth; Hispanic origin; race; and whether home is owned or rented.
Information about the data releases from the 2020 Census can be found on the U.S. Census Bureau 2020 Census Results webpage. The redistricting data is available on data.census.gov beginning September 16, 2021.
We provide links to the 2020 Census data tables from the U.S. Census, along with links to data tables we have compiled, on our 2020 Census webpage.
For assistant with access the data, you can contact the UNO Center for Public Affairs Research at unocpar@unomaha.edu or 402.554.2132.
data.census.gov is the online platform used to access data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau. For detailed information on what data is included and how to access it visit the data.census.gov FAQ page.
The best source is the U.S. Census Glossary.
If you are looking for specifics on geography terms, the U.S. Census Bureau Geography Program has a glossary.
Launched in 2005, the American Community Survey (ACS) is part of the decennial census program and is essentially what used to be the Census long form. It collects more detailed information on housing, population, and the economy than the decennial census. ACS data are collected continuously throughout the year and throughout the decade from a sample of the population (about 3 million addresses annually), unlike the decennial census which is conducted once every 10 years. Like the 2020 Census participation in the ACS is mandatory by law and the American public’s participation is vital to provide data that impacts policy decisions on the local, state, and federal level.
If you have additional questions, please call the Regional Census Center at 1-800-852-6159 (toll-free) or visit https://www.census.gov/about/regions/denver.html.