2010 Census

How the census works

This year the census will have one of its shortest forms in history, just 10 questions. One question will ask people their race, and people can check more than one answer if they are mixed-race. New this year is a place for people—who identify themselves as American Indian/Alaska Native—to list the tribe they are enrolled with. This will allow the census bureau to break down the information into specialized reports for each of the nation's 564 federally recognized tribes.

Most Americans will receive a form in the mail by March, but special procedures are being used on many Indian reservations, in rural Alaska communities and other rural or remote areas. In these areas, members of the community who are working with the census bureau will visit homes to help you fill out the form and ensure an accurate count. Counting of rural Alaska communities begins in late January, and nationally the first person counted by the census will be from the Iñupiaq community of Noorvik in the Northwest Arctic region of Alaska. Rural SE Alaska communities will be counted starting in April.