The 2010 Census:

How People 

Are Counted

Issued August 2009

Form D-3288

Would life in your community be better if:

\ You had access to new hospitals and senior centers or 

enhanced health care services for ill or aging family members? 

\ Your children could learn in new or improved schools or 

child-care centers? 

\ Your commute to work were safer and less congested thanks to 

better roads or expanded public transportation options? 

\ Your local emergency services providers had up-to-date maps to 

ensure faster response in a crisis?

\ Your local markets could better deliver goods and services to 

your community?

The 2010 Census will be a snapshot of our 

nation’s population – capturing our changing 

and diverse America in a fleeting moment in time. 

But this historic event will do more than tell us 

who we are as a nation today. It will affect

Your community’s future. 

Your country’s future. Your future.

The federal government distributes more than $400 billion annually to 

state, local and tribal governments based on census data. One of the 

shortest census forms in history, the 2010 Census form asks 10 questions 

and takes about 10 minutes to complete. Completing your census form is 

easy, important and safe. Your participation is vital. 

By participating in the census, you can help create a 

better future for you and those important to you.

We move forward when you send it back.

Make a difference in your community and be counted in 2010. 

Complete and return your 2010 Census form. 

To learn more, visit 

2010census.gov

“By participating in the 2010 Census we will be 

providing a footprint to future generations that will 

help them understand the world that we live in today.”

– Ancestry.com
to counting every person in the nation

key steps

How will the 2010 Census actually happen? Many operations, 

people and activities must come together to produce a successful 

census. Here are five key steps every U.S. resident should know:

Step 1: Census is underway. Census workers canvassed the 

country between April and July 2009 to update addresses 

and maps from the previous census. This process is important 

because buildings that existed in the last census may no longer 

be standing, or a community may have new construction that 

needs to be recorded.

Step 2: The form arrives. More than 130 million 

addresses throughout the nation will receive a census 

form in March 2010, either by mail or in person from 

a census worker. Households should complete and 

return their forms upon receipt.

Step 3: Census Day is April 1, 2010. Responses to the census 

form should include everyone living at your address. By law, 

the Census Bureau cannot share an individual’s personal 

information with anyone, including other federal agencies and 

law enforcement entities.

Step 4: Follow-up because every person matters. Addresses 

that still have not responded are visited in person by a census 

worker beginning in late April through July. (Census workers can 

be identified by a census badge and bag.) 

Step 5: The results are in! The Census Bureau will provide the 

2010 apportionment counts to the President by Dec. 31, 2010, 

which include the total population counts and the number of 

representatives for each state.

Most people should be counted in the residence in which they live or sleep most of the time. However, some individuals or groups have 5 

unique living situations. The Census Bureau residence rule helps make it clear where people should be counted. Common situations include:

here should you 

be counted?

Typical living situations

Living situation Where they are counted

Live at their home and 

nowhere else 

Their home

On vacation or a business trip Their home where they live 

and sleep most of the time

Live no one place regularly OR 

Experiencing homelessness

The residence in which they 

are staying on Census Day

W

People in places where groups of people live

Living situation Where they are counted

Places where groups of people 

live such as jails or prisons, 

group homes, domestic violence 

shelters, and emergency or 

transitional shelters for people 

experiencing homelessness

Group location

U.S. military personnel 

Living situation Where they are counted

In barracks in the United States The barracks

On base or off base in the United 

States, but not in the barracks

The residence where 

they live and sleep most 

of the time

In the military and living overseas Counted using the military’s 

records for home address

College students

Living situation Where they are counted

Live with their parents while 

attending college in the 

United States

Parental home

Live away from the parental 

home while attending college 

in the United States

On-campus or 

off-campus housing

Attend college outside the 

United States

Not counted in 

the census

Foreign citizens in the United States

Living situation Where they are counted

Citizens of foreign countries 

living in the United States

The residence where they live 

and sleep most of the time

Foreign citizens visiting the 

United States on a vacation 

or business trip

Not counted in the census

People on the move

Staying at more than one 

place (like a vacation home) or 

at a transitory location, such 

as recreational vehicle (RV) 

parks, campgrounds, marinas, 

racetracks, circuses or carnivals

Living situation Where they are counted

In the residence in which 

they live and sleep most of 

the time

In the residence in 

which they are staying 

on Census Day, if time 

is divided equally