Every ten years, the federal government conducts a census, counting every person living in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau strives to count every person, regardless of age, immigration status, or housing status.
In 2020, census enumerators, the people hired to ensure an accurate and complete count occurred, faced enormous challenges. The first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unusually active wildfire season, and a shortened count time frame all impacted their ability to get out the count. Despite these challenges, community groups, local cities, elected officials, and a coalition of dedicated organizers pulled together to ensure their communities were counted.
In Burien, we participated in the South King County Census Committee, which worked with community groups and other cities to coordinate outreach to encourage our community members to respond to the census.
The decennial census asked questions covering basic demographics. The American Community Survey, which is conducted every year, asks a smaller sample of people more questions to gather data about the social and economic needs of communities. Both the decennial census and American Community Survey were conducted in 2020.
