The United States Constitution requires a census of population and housing to be conducted every ten years of people living in the United States. Prior to the actual census enumeration activities, a widespread network of temporary Regional Census Centers and Local Census Offices are opened to manage the collection of decennial data. As has been done in past censuses, a space acquisition program is established to lease the temporary office space. For the 2010 Census, 12 Regional Census Centers, one Puerto Rico Area Office, and 494 Local Census Offices were opened. These offices were located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. All major field operations were conducted from these temporary offices.

The 2010 Census Space Acquisition Program was considered a success, although throughout the program a number of challenges were encountered. Six of the twelve Regional Census Centers opened later than originally planned, as did a number of Early Local Census Offices, due to lease acquisition challenges. The Early Local Census Offices were further impacted by the Non- Response Follow-Up Re-plan, which occurred during their design and build-out phase. None of the delayed openings affected operational activities. Between the Early Local Center Offices and Local Census Offices acquisition phase the Census Bureau and other program stakeholders took into consideration lessons learned from the Early Local Census Offices experience and made adjustments for the Local Census Offices phase, adjusting activities and process steps beginning with the acquisition process through Office Computing Equipment deployment. These changes resulted in an improved and more efficient process for the remaining 344 Local Census Offices, which opened on schedule. The Census Bureau was able to start closing offices early and closed the last of the 494 Local Census Offices a few weeks before the scheduled finish date.

The total cost of the Space Acquisition Program was $330,778,430 million dollars. Total costs include General Services Administration rent, Tenant Improvements, Operating Expenses, Department of Homeland Security Federal Protective Service fees, Reimbursable Work Authorizations, Security Work Authorizations, General Services Administration Fees, and miscellaneous expenses related to the 2010 Census.