The Household Trends and Outlook Pulse Survey (HTOPS) is a national survey panel by the U.S. Census Bureau (Census). The purpose of the panel is to collect information on topics such as food and nutrition, transportation, employment, and education and to gather data that can be used to improve and inform future surveys. The panel will consist of individuals and households living across the U.S. who have agreed to be contacted and invited to participate in surveys.

Your participation will help federal and state officials direct aid, assistance, and support to the people and places that need it most. This survey provides information that cannot be collected elsewhere. Your response is key. 

Your address is one of more than 75,000 addresses across the U.S. that was randomly selected to participate. In order for the HTOPS to be successful, it is important to have participants that represent the nation as a whole. Your household was contacted to see if someone who lives there may be eligible to participate in the HTOPS.

If you received an e-mail and/or text message requesting you to participate in the survey, a Census Bureau employee may contact you to remind you to complete the survey and answer any questions you may have. You can also verify the legitimacy of an e-mail, text, or phone call from the Census Bureau by visiting: 

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/surveyhelp/verify-a-survey.html

Although this is a voluntary panel, your participation is essential to ensure the results of each survey is comprehensive, accurate, and timely. As a token of our appreciation, people who qualify to be a panel member will receive $10 for completing their initial enrollment survey and will be eligible for $5 for each monthly survey completed as a panel member.

By law, the Census Bureau is required to keep your answers confidential. All information to be collected is protected under the confidentiality provisions of Title 13 U.S.C.

Your privacy is protected by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. Section 552a). There are a limited number of uses of your data that are permitted under the Privacy Act. You can find a list of these uses in the System of Records Notice (SORN). For this survey, the SORNs are named:  COMMERCE/Census -3, Demographic Survey Collection (Census Bureau Sampling Frame) and COMMERCE/CENSUS-5, Decennial Census Programs. All survey responses will be combined with the answers of many others and reported in a summary form. Our interest is only in the combination of all responses and not anyone’s individual answers. Your name and any other identifying information will never be associated with the answers you provide on surveys. This information is only collected for contact purposes so that we may send you invitations to future surveys.  

This collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OMB control number is 0607-1029 and the approval expiration date for the collection is 07/31/2027. We are required to display this number to conduct this survey.

We estimate that completing this survey will take an average of 20 minutes. Send comments regarding this estimate or any other aspect of this survey, including suggestions for reducing the time it takes to complete this survey, to adrm.pra@census.gov.

The U.S. Census Bureau is conducting this study under the authority of 13 U.S.C. Sections 131, 141, 182, 193, and 196.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved this survey. The OMB control number is 0607-1029 and the approval expiration date for the collection is 07/31/2027.

Periodically, the Census Bureau will replenish the HTOPS panel.  If you have been selected to enroll in the HTOPS panel, you will receive a letter in the mail with a link to complete the survey. If we have not received a response from you, you may receive up to 3 follow-up reminders. Only those whose addresses have been selected to join the panel can complete the survey. A limited number of addresses across the country have been invited to answer the HTOPS. 

Once you have enrolled in the HTOPS panel, you are eligible to receive invitations to the HTOPS monthly survey. You will receive an email from addp.htops@census.gov or a text message from either 1-833-972-2579 or 1-833-969-2724* (message and data rates may apply) with a link to complete the survey. If we have not received a response from you, you may receive up to 3 follow-up reminders. The link to the survey will include "survey.census.gov" in the URL.

*Respondents may Reply “Stop” to opt out of receiving text messages.

All information that you provide is used only to create accurate and relevant statistics about the nation’s people, places, and economy. These statistics help inform officials and policymakers about communities and individuals across the United States.

The U.S. Census Bureau is the primary sponsor of the HTOPS. The U.S. Census Bureau is conducting this study under the authority of 13 U.S.C. Sections 141, 182, and 193. Other federal agencies may contribute funding and sponsor surveys for the HTOPS. 

Please contact the U.S. Census Bureau at 1-888-595-1334 if you have any questions about the survey. The HTOPS Team is available Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.(Eastern Standard Time). At any other time, please leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible. We are also available to answer your questions via e-mail at addp.htops@census.gov.

If you have comments or concerns about the survey content, the status of your survey responses or suggestions for improving this collection, please e-mail addp.htops@census.gov.