Expect a visitor soon if you live in Pierce County and haven’t filled out the 2020 Census
Census workers will start making in-person visits this month to households in Pierce County that have not responded to the 2020 Census.
Pierce County is one of six areas across the country that will start the visits on July 23 as part of the U.S. Census Bureau’s soft launch of Non-Response Follow-Up (NRFU):
Crystal City, Virginia
Tacoma, Washington (includes all of Pierce County)
Hartford, Connecticut
State College, Pennsylvania
Evansville, Indiana
Wichita, Kansas
The visits for the 2020 Census were scheduled to occur in March but were delayed to Aug. 1 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, U.S. Census Bureau spokesperson Toby Nelson told The News Tribune.
There now are areas starting that process early — six on July 16 and another six on July 23.
“The early starting locations are opening early largely so we can verify the efficiency of our processes and were selected since they represent a diverse cross-section of geographic characteristics,” Nelson said via email.
When making their visits, census workers are instructed to bring gloves, hand sanitizer and to wear masks — even in areas with no mask requirements. They also are told to maintain six feet of distance from residents, Nelson said.
Also for the first time this year, census workers will not be allowed to enter homes. Typically, the bureau says it’s OK for them to enter a home if they are invited inside.
If a resident does not answer, census workers will make several visits. If they are unable to make contact, the Census Bureau will try to count the house “via proxy,” or through the resident’s neighbors, Nelson said.
As a last resort, the bureau uses a process called “imputation” to collect data, which uses public records corresponding to the unresponsive address. In 2010, approximately 0.39% of households in the United States were counted by imputation, Nelson said.
Census workers will only visit if you have not already filled out the 2020 Census. People are encouraged to fill out the survey online at 2020census.gov or by phone at 844-330-2020.
“I’ll just say that it’s great news,” Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson said by email on Wednesday. “Pierce County loves being beta and a test ground.”
Pierce County is keeping track of self-responses through a map on its website.
So far, 67.3 percent of households in Washington state have responded to the census, compared to 66.2 percent in 2010, according to numbers supplied by Nelson. Washington is one of only two states that have surpassed in 2010 response rate.
In Pierce County, 67.2 percent of people have responded to the census, compared to 66.7 percent when the census was completed last year. In Tacoma, 67.9 percent have responded, compared to 68.4 in 2010. The national average is 61.9 percent responding.
While Pierce County starts deploying census workers July 23, the rest of the state likely won’t see them until Aug. 11, Nelson said.
