The U.S. Census Bureau will begin the 2015 Census Test in the Savannah, Ga., area on Feb. 23 by allowing residents to register for the upcoming test using its “Notify Me” website. Residents across 20 counties in Georgia and South Carolina will have the opportunity to specify how they would like to be notified to participate in the count beginning on March 23.

Traditionally, the Census Bureau has communicated through the mail. However, the “Notify Me” website provides an additional option for people to register their preferred contact information at census.gov/2015 to be notified when it is time to respond to the test census. The 2015 Census Test is researching modern and cost-efficient methods, like “Notify Me” and an online questionnaire, to conduct the 2020 Census. Research leading up to 2020 could result in up to $5 billion from the projected cost of conducting the census using established methods from previous censuses.

The Savannah area was selected for the test census for a number of reasons, including its population density, demographic diversity and the mixed rates of Internet access among the region’s residents, allowing the Census Bureau to test various digital outreach methods for different population groups.

The following counties are involved in the test census:

Georgia — Appling, Bacon, Bryan, Bulloch, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Jeff Davis, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Montgomery, Screven, Tattnall, Toombs and Wayne.
South Carolina — Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper.

Residents can register for “Notify Me” starting Feb. 23 at <www.census.gov/2015>.

For more information about the test, visit //www.census.gov/2015censustests.

Please contact the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office at 301-763-3030 to request an interview.

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