Be Prepared for Census Day - April 1, 2010

The Census: A Snapshot

• The U.S. Constitution requires a national census once every 10 years.
• The census is a count of everyone residing in the United States: in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.  This includes people of all ages, races, ethnic groups, both citizens and non-citizens.
• The 2010 Census will create hundreds of thousands of temporary jobs across the nation.

It's in Our Hands: Your Participation in the 2010 Census Matters

• Every year, more than $300 billion in federal funds is awarded to states and communities based on census data.  That's more than $3 trillion over a 10-year period.
• Census data guide local decision-makers in important community planning efforts, including where to build new roads, hospitals, and schools.
• Census data affect our voice in Congress by determining how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Completing the 2010 Census Questionnaire: Simple and Safe

• The 2010 Census quenstionnaire asks only a few simple questions of each person - name, relationship, gender, age and date of birth, race, and whether the respondent owns or rents his or her home.  This simple, short questionnaire takes just a few minutes to complete and return by mail.
• The Census Bureau does not release or share information that identifies individual respondents or their household for 72 years.

The Village encourages everyone to complete his or her census form as accurately as possible.  For more information, visit www.census.gov/2010census.