The 2020 Census Enumeration at Transitory Locations (ETL) operation counted people living or staying at transitory locations who did not have another place where they lived or stayed most of the time. Transitory locations (TL) are places where people are unlikely to live year-round because of the transitory, temporary, or impermanent nature of the locations. Generally, people living or staying at TLs either pay fees to stay there, or they work there temporarily. Campgrounds, recreational vehicle (RV) parks, marinas, hotels, motels, racetracks, carnivals, circuses, and fairs are examples of TLs. The ETL operation enumerated people in all the TL types in the United States and Puerto Rico (including those on military installations) by conducting in-person interviews using paper questionnaires. 

Anyone living or staying at a transitory location, including TL staff who did not have a Usual Home Elsewhere (UHE), was counted at the TL during the time of the enumeration visit. The respondent was asked if they had a UHE (i.e., a residence where they live and sleep most of the time). If they did not have a UHE or they could not determine a place where they lived most of the time, they were counted at the transitory location. If they reported a UHE address, an attempt was made to match the address to the Census Bureau’s Master Address File. If the address could be verified, the respondent was counted at the UHE address. 

As a result of the ETL operation, the Census Bureau counted approximately 180,000 people in 27,000 transitory locations. The ETL operation finished on time and under budget. Furthermore, the following innovations associated with this operation were successfully implemented for the 2020 Census: a TL definitions and code list, an advance contact operation, a handheld geocoding application, a hotel and motel calling operation, a method to link a transitory unit to its parent TL, a canvassing of the TLs, and completed interviews of all occupied transitory units. 

Some recommendations for those planning the 2030 Census ETL operation are as follows: build an up-to-date TL universe before the 2030 Census; form a 2030 Census ETL Working Group to develop ETL frame building and ETL operational procedures; refine the TL Type Code definitions to better differentiate TLs from group quarters and housing units across decennial census operations; conduct comprehensive field testing of the ETL operation before the 2030 Census; and automate the ETL data collection process.