2010 U.S. Census – What You Will Need
Who Must Take the 2010 U.S. Census:
Residents and non-resident citizens of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Island, Northern Mariana Island and American Samoa
Information required by law from each person:
Name
- Sex
- Age
- Date of birth
- Race
- Relationship
- Whether you own a home
Approximate time to complete census:
Additional things to keep in mind:
- Federal law protects your personal information that you share during the census.
- Individuals will fill out a short-form questionnaire instead of the long-form.
- The long-form, which was traditionally sent out to a small percentage of the population is being replaced by the American Community Survey (ACS), which is sent out annually to about 3 million households.
- The ACS is sent to 1 in 40 households (about 2.5% of the U.S. population) to create estimates for the rest of the U.S. population. The data, however, is only collected in areas with populations of 65,000 or more people.
Next, we’ll go over how the 2010 U.S. census will be conducted.