The deadline to complete the 2020 Census is quickly approaching. As of Thursday, September 10, 2020, Ohio’s self-response rate was 69.5 percent, which is above the national rate of 65.5 percent but one percentage point behind Michigan. The census, which takes only about 10 minutes to complete, impacts the state for the next 10 years, including how federal, state, and local funding is distributed, and it determines congressional representation.
Your response matters. Health clinics. Fire departments. Schools. Even roads and highways. The census can shape many different aspects of your community. Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year. The results also determine how many seats in Congress each state gets.
It’s mandated by the U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2: The U.S. has counted its population every 10 years since 1790. When you respond to the census, your answers are kept anonymous. They are used only to produce statistics.
The U.S. Census Bureau is bound by law to protect your answers and keep them strictly confidential. The law ensures that your private information is never published and that your answers cannot be used against you by any government agency or court.
If you have not already done so, please complete your census by either going to 2020Census.gov or calling 1-844-330-2020.
