Mid-March marks the launch of the 2020 Census, which is conducted every 10 years. Individuals will be asked to provide basic information about every adult, child, and baby residing at each household within Montgomery County, including the Town of Blacksburg and the Town of Christiansburg.
The Census Bureau will never ask individuals to provide their social security number, bank or credit card information, or monetary donations.
Wherever individuals are residing on April 1 is where they need to complete the Census. When every resident is counted, their community receives a portion of approximately $675 billion in federal funding for education, medical care and resources, emergency services, roads, transportation, public works, and other important programs and services.
In fiscal year 2016 alone, Virginia received over $17.8 billion in funding from the 2010 Census. For every individual not counted, Montgomery County will lose $2,000 every year until the next Census is conducted, leading to a lack of critical funding for public safety, infrastructure, transportation, and community and educational programs.
In preparation of the upcoming Census, a Montgomery County Complete Count Committee has been formed to include representatives from Montgomery County, the Town of Blacksburg, the Town of Christiansburg, Virginia Tech, the NAACP and several community organizations. The purpose of this broadly represented committee is to help spread awareness of the 2020 Census and the importance of being counted.
Materials from the U.S. Census Bureau will be mailed to every household in Montgomery County by mid-March with instructions on how to complete the 2020 Census online. While the primary and preferred response method is online for the 2020 Census, residents will also be able to respond by phone or by paper if need be. Census representatives will be sent to households that do not respond to the initial outreach in the summer of 2020.
The Census has occurred every 10 years since 1790. To learn more, visit
census.gov.