The Government Units Survey (GUS) is a part of the organizational component of the Census of Governments. The GUS is designed to collect information on the location and type of local governments and offices.

The Individual State Descriptions provides information about the organization of state and local governments. There is a separate summary for each state and the District of Columbia. The summaries are divided according to the five basic types of local governments. The Census Bureau established these five types for classifying government units— county, municipal, township, school district, and special district governments.

On this webpage you will find helpful links to brochures, letters, materials, FAQs, and contact information.

Selection to respond to a survey is a great opportunity to represent thousands of Americans. Thank you for your interest and participation.

If you have specific concerns or questions, you may contact one of our Respondent Advocates. They serve as Organizational Ombudsmen to advocate for respondents in all matters relating to Census Bureau surveys and censuses.

To report online:

1. Sign-in or Register at https://portal.census.gov.
   
2. Add your authentication code.
3. Report by clicking on "REPORT NOW".  You can return to your account over multiple sections to complete.
   
4. For assistance completing this survey, please sign-in to your Census Bureau account at https://portal.census.gov and send us a secure message or call the customer help line at 1 (888) 369-3613, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.
   
5. For survey specific information, please visit our FAQs.  

To help you prepare for online reporting, click on the appropriate survey questions and instructions below. (All files are in Adobe PDF format and are for informational purposes only)

• Government Units Survey (GUS) Worksheets
  

• Government Units Survey (GUS) Letters
  

Title 13, United States Code (U.S.C.), Sections 131 and 182, require businesses and other organizations included in the survey to answer the questions and submit a response.

Title 13, United States Code, Section 9, requires the Census Bureau to keep your information CONFIDENTIAL and can use your responses only to produce statistics.  The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify your business, organization, or institution.  Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit your data.

Below are a few common items you can use to verify the legitimacy of this survey:

1. Ensure the Web address provided in the letter is a "census.gov" domain.
2. Correspondence sent in the form of a letter or email will contain reporting instructions and a phone number for survey assistance. Any email correspondence related to this survey will come from a census.gov address.
3. On the log-in screen, a warning message should be present stating the respondent is accessing a U.S. Government computer.
4. Additionally, the upper right corner of the page should display the OMB eight-digit number and expiration date. This number indicates that the OMB has approved the survey and has confirmed there is a need to collect the information. The bottom of the log-in screen should have a link for the “Burden Statement” which also contains the OMB eight-digit number.