History

Census Instructions

2020 Instructions

The majority of households in the United States completed their 2020 Census questionnaires without the assistance of an enumerator visiting their home. The following instruction were published on the U.S. Census Bureau's Web site to assist self-reporting households.

Question: In this house, apartment, or mobile home . . .

The 2020 Census asked you whether your home is owned, rented, or occupied without payment or rent. To help you choose the best option that applied to your home, we provided the following descriptions for the response options:

• Owned by you or someone in this household with a mortgage or loan: Select this response option to describe any house, apartment, or mobile home secured by any type of real estate loan. These liens may be called mortgages, deeds of trust, trust deeds, or contracts to purchase. Owner-occupied units with reverse mortgages, as well as owner-occupied mobile homes with installment loans, are considered owned with a mortgage or loan.
• Owned by you or someone in this household free and clear without a mortgage or loan: Select this response option to describe owner-occupied properties without any type of real estate loan.
• Rented: Select this response option to describe units where rent is paid or contracted. Continuing care, sometimes called life care, is a contract between an individual and housing services provider. The contract requires that shelter, usually a house or apartment, and services such as meals or transportation to shopping or recreation, be provided. For these kinds of living arrangements, choose "rented."
• Occupied without payment of rent: Select this response option if the home or apartment is not owned or being bought by a member of the household and if rent is not paid or contracted. For example, a house or apartment that is provided free to a janitor, caretaker, or superintendent in exchange for services.

Question: What is Person 1's name?

The 2020 Census asked you to record your name and the name of each person who lived with you as of April 1, 2020.

We understand you might have had questions when providing this information. Here were some guidelines for responding:

Please provide your legal first, middle, and last name or names and any suffixes.
• If you have more than one last name: Please provide all last names.
• For long last names: If you are responding online, you will be able to fit 20 letters. If you are using the paper questionnaire, please continue writing in the space directly next to or below the boxes.
• If you use Junior, Senior, or III: Include your last name or names and the suffix in the "Last Names" field.

 On the paper questionnaire, there were instructions about who to list as Person 1. After listing Person 1, you could list the names of the people in your home in any order.

Question: Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?

The 2020 Census asked a series of questions about you and each person who lived with you. When responding, you were asked to record the Hispanic origin of each person living in your home on April 1, 2020.

We understand you might have had questions when providing this information. Here were some guidelines for responding:

• Your answer to this question should be based on how you identify. Each person can decide how to answer.
• You are free to choose where to report your identity and which boxes to mark, or not to mark.
• You are not required to mark a checkbox category in order to enter a response in the write-in area. You may respond by entering your specific identity or identities in the write-in response area on the Hispanic origin question.
• If you don't know the answer, please move on to the next question.
• In the online questionnaire, if you check the “Another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin” checkbox, but leave the origin field blank, a message will appear at the top of the screen and the blank field will be highlighted in red. If you do not know this person's origin, click next again to continue completing your response.

The information below, listed in the same order as the questionnaire, was provided to help you respond:

The category “Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin" includes all individuals who identify with one or more nationalities or ethnic groups originating in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America, and other Spanish cultures. Examples of these groups include, but are not limited to, Mexican or Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican, and Colombian. “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin” also includes groups such as Guatemalan, Honduran, Spaniard, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Venezuelan, etc. If a person is not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, answer "No, not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin".

There are individual checkboxes for people who identify as:

• Not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin
• Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano
• Puerto Rican
• Cuban
• Another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (for example, Salvadoran, Dominican, Colombian, Guatemalan, Spaniard, Ecuadorian, etc.)

More about the Question

We asked the question this way to comply with the federal government’s standards—provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget—for collecting data on race and Hispanic origin.

First, the question was based on how you identify. Second, the standards require us to collect and report data for a minimum of two ethnicities: “Hispanic or Latino” and “Not Hispanic or Latino.” The standards define “Hispanic or Latino” as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

If an individual did not provide a Hispanic origin response, their origin may have been assigned from previous census records or federal administrative records, if available, or was allocated using specific rules of precedence of household relationship. For example, if origin was missing for a natural-born child in the household, then either the origin of the householder, another natural-born child, or spouse of the householder was allocated.

If Hispanic origin could not be assigned from other sources and was not reported for anyone in the household, then the Hispanic origin of a householder in a previously processed household with the same race was allocated to the individual missing a response.

Question: What is Person 1's race?

The 2020 Census asked a series of questions about you and each person who lived with you. When responding, you were asked to record the race of each person living in your home on April 1, 2020.

We understand you might have had questions about providing this information. Here were some of the guidelines for responding:

• Your answer to this question should be based on how you identify. Each person can decide how to answer.
• You are free to choose where to report your identity and which boxes to mark, or not to mark.
• You are not required to mark a checkbox category in order to enter a response in one of the write-in areas. You may respond by entering your specific identity or identities in any of the write-in response areas on the race question.
• You have the option to select one or more boxes for the race or races you identify with and enter your origins in the write-in space.
• If you don't know the answer, please move on to the next question.
• The instructions ask you to select one or more boxes and then enter detailed origins in the provided write-in fields. If you don't know the person's origin, you can leave this field blank.
• In the online questionnaire, if you select a box, but leave the origin fields blank, a message will appear at the top of the screen and the blank field will be highlighted in red. If you do not know this person's origin, click next again to continue completing your response.

More about the Question Options

We asked the question this way to comply with the federal government’s standards—provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget—for collecting data on race and Hispanic origin.

First, the question was based on how you identify. Second, the race categories generally reflected social definitions in the U.S. and were not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. We recognize that the race categories include racial and national origins and sociocultural groups.

We made significant improvements to the question this decade to give everyone an opportunity to respond with their detailed racial identities. Providing this detail was an opportunity—not a requirement.

Based on research and positive feedback from communities over the past 10 years, people who identify as White or Black now have space to enter their detailed identities, such as the examples listed on the questionnaire.

In turn, this provides us the ability to produce detailed statistics for a variety of population groups in the United States, such as German, Lebanese, Mexican, Jamaican, Nigerian, Chinese, Navajo, Samoan, etc.

If an individual did not provide a race response, a response may have been assigned from previous census records or federal administrative records, if available, or their response may have been allocated using specific rules of precedence of household relationship. For example, if race was missing for a natural-born child in the household, then either the race or races of the householder, another natural-born child, or spouse of the householder were allocated.

If race could not be assigned from other sources and was not reported for anyone in the household, then the race or races of a householder in a previously processed household were allocated to the individual missing a response.

The information below, listed in the same order as the questionnaire, was provided to help you respond:

• White: The category “White” includes all individuals who identify with one or more nationalities or ethnic groups originating in Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. Examples of these groups include, but are not limited to, German, Irish, English, Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Polish, French, Iranian, Slavic, Cajun, and Chaldean.
• Black or African American: The category “Black or African American” includes all individuals who identify with one or more nationalities or ethnic groups originating in any of the black racial groups of Africa. Examples of these groups include, but are not limited to, African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, and Somali. The category also includes groups such as Ghanaian, South African, Barbadian, Kenyan, Liberian, and Bahamian.
• American Indian or Alaska Native: The category “American Indian or Alaska Native” includes all individuals who identify with any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. It includes people who identify as “American Indian” or “Alaska Native” and includes groups such as Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe, Mayan, Aztec, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government, and Nome Eskimo Community.
• Asian: The category “Asian” includes all individuals who identify with one or more nationalities or ethnic groups originating in the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent. Examples of these groups include, but are not limited to, Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese. The category also includes groups such as Pakistani, Cambodian, Hmong, Thai, Bengali, Mien, etc.

There are individual Asian checkboxes for people who identify as one or more of the following:

• Chinese
• Filipino
• Asian Indian
• Vietnamese
• Korean
• Japanese
• Other Asian (for example, Pakistani, Cambodian, and Hmong)

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: The category “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander” includes all individuals who identify with one or more nationalities or ethnic groups originating in Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. Examples of these groups include, but are not limited to, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, and Marshallese. The category also includes groups such as Palauan, Tahitian, Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Saipanese, Yapese, etc.

There are individual Pacific Islander checkboxes for people who identify as one or more of the following:

Native Hawaiian
• Samoan
• Chamorro
• Other Pacific Islander (for example, Tongan, Fijian, and Mashallese)

Some Other Race:

If you do not identify with any of the provided race categories, you may enter your detailed identity in the Some Other Race write-in area.

Questions: How is this person related to Person 1?

The 2020 Census asked you to record how each person in the home was related to you (or to one central figure).

We understand you might have had questions when providing this information. Here were some guidelines for responding:

• For reference, the term “householder” refers to the first person listed on your census form. This is typically the person filling out the questionnaire.
• To answer, check one box from a series of options, including “father or mother,” “grandchild,” and “roommate or housemate.”
• Other relative: If the person is related by birth, marriage, or adoption to the householder but is not one of the options listed, indicate "other relative." An example is a niece or nephew.
• Related foster child: If a foster child is related to the householder, include them in the appropriate relative category. An example is a grandchild or other relative.
• Roommate or housemate: If the person is someone who lives in the home but is not related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption and is not their boyfriend or girlfriend, indicate "roommate or housemate."
• Unmarried partner: If the person is in an intimate relationship with the householder, such as a boyfriend or girlfriend, indicate "unmarried partner."
• Other nonrelative: If the person is not related to the householder and not one of the options listed, then indicate "other nonrelative."