The CQR operation gives tribal, state and local governmental units the opportunity to request that the Census Bureau review their boundaries and/or housing counts to identify errors that may have occurred while processing their 2020 Census counts.

This review helps ensure that housing and population counts are allocated to the correct 2020 Census blocks in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Legal requirements influence the products we can produce using CQR. CQR can only review data collected and processed during the 2020 Census. Disclosure regulations prevent the Census Bureau from developing a public product for CQR. Because CQR makes changes at the housing unit level, it may be possible to determine the characteristics of the households, which were moved to a different governmental unit, during the CQR process.

This determination of characteristics could be completed by comparing the official 2020 Census count with the revised count. For this reason, revised counts are only shared with affected governmental units. CQR results cannot be used to revise or replace official 2020 Census counts because the revise counts are estimates, not exact population counts. Estimates are calculated to protect against disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

The CQR process recalculates a governmental unit's population count using the average population size per household and applying it to the number of households that were moved to a different governmental unit. The actual housing unit population size is not used because of the potential for PII disclosure.

CQR can only review data collected and processed during the 2020 Census. It does not collect new data or conduct a recount. If the review process finds errors related to geographic boundaries or housing placement, housing and population counts will be corrected and the revised counts will be distributed.

In instances where the Census Bureau issues corrected counts based on the results of their CQR case, the revised counts will not alter or replace the official 2020 Census count and is provided for local governmental use only.

If corrections are made based on the CQR review:

It will not change apportionment counts, redistricting data, 2020 Census counts, or any other 2020 Census data products.
Tribal, state, and local areas will have higher quality information throughout the decade.
The Census Bureau will use the corrected counts in the baseline used to calculate its annual population estimates.
Corrected counts can help governments plan and apply for future funding.

The submission period for reviewing 2020 Census counts through the CQR operation ended June 30, 2023. The Special Census Program can update population estimates produced by the Census Bureau. However, it cannot review or recount 2020 Census results. Refer to the Special Census Program webpage for more information.

Types of CQR Cases Reviewed

Governments with questions about their counts had the opportunity to request a CQR review in the following situations:

Boundary cases. CQR can review the legal boundaries in effect for governmental units as of January 1, 2020. It can also review the associated addresses affected by the boundaries.
Housing count cases. CQR can review the geographic location or placement of housing and its associated population. It can also review 2020 census results to determine whether census processing error(s) excluded valid housing and associated population data.
Both boundary and housing count cases.

CQR does not review population counts for group quarter facilities such as nursing homes, college/university student residence halls, or correctional facilities.

Who Can Participate

The following active, functioning governmental unit types were eligible to submit a CQR case for review. See the PDF below for a comprehensive list.

Tribal areas, including federally recognized tribes with a reservation and/or off-reservation trust lands, Alaska Native Regional Corporations, and Alaska Native villages.
States or equivalent entities (e.g. District of Columbia, Puerto Rico).
Counties or equivalent entities (e.g. boroughs, parishes, municipios).
Minor Civil Divisions (e.g., townships).
Consolidated Cities.
Incorporated Places (e.g., villages, towns, cities).

List of Eligible Participants for 2020 Census CQR [6.5 MB]

Important Dates

January 03, 2022: Governmental units begin submitting CQR cases for review.

June 30, 2023: Deadline for governmental units to submit all documentation for a CQR case.

September 30, 2023: The Census Bureau will attempt to respond to each inquiry within 90 days of receipt and complete all case research and resolution by no later than September 30, 2023. However, due to the high number of cases submitted at the June 30, 2023 deadline, our review is taking longer than expected. In order to carefully consider all cases, the Census Bureau has extended the review period, and we will attempt to send an official notification with the decision no later than December 29, 2023.

After Submitting a Case

The deadline for eligible tribal, state, and local governmental units to submit a CQR case for review was June 30, 2023. It will take several months to complete processing and to notify those who have submitted a CQR request.

The Census Bureau will be releasing a complete set of 2020 Decennial Census Notes and Errata once all CQR cases have been dispositioned and governmental units have been notified.

View the latest CQR case status report.

Notes and Errata

2020 Census CQR Maps

Completed CQR boundary cases have had their boundaries corrected and are available as a 2020 Census CQR block map (pdf). Local governmental units have received this map, and upon approval from the governmental unit, has been implemented as their official boundary as of the 2020 Census.

A Block-to-Map-Sheet relationship text file (txt.) is included to assist governmental units with locating the changed tabulation block(s) on the CQR Map sheets.

This text file, found in the same location as the map files, identifies each block in the governmental units and the map sheet(s) they fall within.
The semicolon delimited text file contains a list of all the blocks within the governmental unit’s jurisdiction and sheet/grid number that identifies the large format parent sheet(s) or inset sheet(s) where the block is located.
Governmental units can open this file with a simple text editor such as Notepad or WordPad.