July 14, 2020 — The U.S. Census Bureau has released a new 2020 Census Response Rate Challenge Mini Guide geared toward helping local elected officials and leaders motivate their communities to respond to the 2020 Census. The short guide includes an overview of how community leaders can challenge their communities to beat their 2010 Census response rates and provides ideas and inspiration for virtual challenges while the nation is still social distancing. The Mini Guide serves as a supplement to the Response Rate Challenge Toolkit released earlier this year.

Community leaders, partners and elected officials can view their current local self-response rates and see how they compare to other cities, counties, states, and nationally, via the interactive map at 2020census.gov/response-rates. The map is available to share and embed on other websites and displays 2010 Census self-response rates. Additionally, a rankings dashboard tool tracks response rates across states, cities, and counties. As of July 14, 2020, the national response rate is 62.1% or 91,800,000 households.

Highlights of the updated toolkit and Mini Guide include:

• Ideas, examples and resources for creating challenges within a community or against another one, an updated 2020 Census timeline, and general information about the 2020 Census.
• Information on how communities can use the interactive Response Rates Map on <2020census.gov>. to look up their 2010 Census response rates, set a goal for their challenge, and monitor their progress.
• Recommendations for working with local businesses, partners and the media to promote the challenge.

For more information, visit <2020census.gov>.

No news release is associated with this announcement. Tip Sheet only.

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