Stand up and be counted: The 2020 Census

Click here to fill out your Census.

Read more: Supreme Court allows census counting to end Oct. 15

NOTE: The opportunity for self-response in the 2020 Census has ended.

Why a complete count is critical:

Billions of federal dollars for education, highways and bridges, hospitals, social services and more are paid out according to population numbers gathered every 10 years by the U.S. Census Bureau. Some $675 billion is at stake. And communities that would benefit most from these resources — lower-come areas and communities of color — are at greatest risk of being under-counted.

Here is a look at how Kansas City is doing so far, and what our communities can do to help get a complete count in 2020.

Where we stand

Who’s getting counted and who’s not — Final self-response report, Oct. 22

The maps below show the final indication of the percentage of residents by Census tract who self-responded to the Census. It does not reflect any results achieved by the door-to-door canvassing of Census workers. Orange areas had less than 50% response, while blue areas exceeded 50%. The threat of an under-count persists more heavily in areas of Kansas City with concentrated populations of low-income households and households of color. See the Census map of hard-to-count areas here. Compare to previous maps at the bottom of this page to mark our progress. The count came to an end as the Trump Administration moved to end the count early.

The rest of the count will rely on the canvassing of Census workers.

Taking action

Fill out the Census. Do it online at 2020census.gov, or by phone at 1-844-330-2020. Help is available in 59 different languages. Make sure to count everyone in your household, including all children.

Count Me in KC provides several promotional videos including this one, above, by KC Mayor Quinton Lucas.

Reach out to others. Make sure family, friends, neighbors and members of church, school or other community groups have filled their census. Offer to help. Link to this or other resource pages.

Organize a community effort. Download the Census Community Outreach Toolkit.

Work for the Census. There are jobs available for Census takers and other positions. Learn more at the Census jobs web page, and pass it on to others.

Another video for Count Me in KC, by Eva Santiago and Leo Prieto, is in Spanish.

Share about the Census on social media. Download shareable pictures from Count Me In KC and post encouraging messages. Share Count Me in KC’s short videos made for targeted audiences.

Know and share important safety and security information:

The Census does NOT ask whether you or anyone in your home is a U.S. citizen. EVERYONE living in the U.S. is counted, including non-citizens.
Your Census answers CANNOT be shared with law enforcement or used against you in any way. Your answers CANNOT be used to impact your eligibility for government benefits.

Federal law requires that your answers are used ONLY for creating statistics about the country and that your personal information is strictly confidential. That applies to every answer to every question.
Learn more information about concerns on the Census page for fighting rumors.

COVID 19 impact

To keep Census takers safe, Congress approved a revised, expanded schedule for completing the count. The period for self-response has been extended to Oct. 31. Census field work will continue through Dec. 31. The Census Bureau will deliver the count to the President and Congress in April 2021.