What is a census and why is it important?

Once a decade, America comes together to count every resident in the United States, creating national awareness of the importance of the census and its valuable statistics.

The decennial census was first taken in 1790, as mandated by the Constitution. It counts our population and households, providing the basis for reapportioning congressional seats, redistricting, and distributing more than $675 billion in federal funds annually to support states, counties, and communities’ vital programs—impacting housing, education, transportation, employment, health care, and public policy.

A 2020 Census Regional Meeting will be held Thursday, February 13, at 5:30 pm at the Warren County Armory Civic Center. Citizens from Warren, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, and Vance counties who are interested in learning more about the census and discussing how to address the challenges of rural North Carolina, such as how the census will identify the undercounted population of senior citizens, children five years and under, the homeless, our veterans, and minority males 18 to 50 years old, are invited to attend.