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Do your duty, fill out the census

Filling out the census is important to not only your state but also to your local community and neighborhoods

BRYAN, Texas — Census day has come around the decade again. This doesn't mean you need to have had your census filled out by today. The last day to do so is Aug. 14, 2020.

Throughout the month of March, people have been receiving mailers in their mailboxes, to which you can complete the census by mail, phone, or online.

“On May, 7th people will go and do no-response follow-ups so if you haven’t done it, they will come to interview you," said Bryan staff planner Allison Kay. "And with coronavirus, we want to keep people inside, and social distance. What perfect way to do the census than online" 

Filling out the census is important to not only your state but also to your local community and neighborhoods

“Public works, roads, road improvements," said Kay. "Being able to determine where the most populated areas may be. If there’s a population shift and you need to do redistricting and so that kind of comes into play. If there’s a large population growth in this particular part of the city, we may need to redistrict, the state of Texas may get more representatives because of population increases from 2010." 

But, the census is far from perfect and does not account for everyone. 

“A lot of minority groups may be overlooked,"  said Kay. "Definitely non-English speaking. We’re trying to reach out to those communities through our account community, the Brazos County Bryan College Station has established. We have members that are trusted voices of the community that are kind of getting out the message that hey this benefits everybody. If there is a language barrier, there is means to overcome that with different materials citizens provide."

It is one census per household, and all the information you fill out is confidential.

You can go online to check the response rate all the way down to the city level and see how your community has been doing its part in filling out the census.

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