Are You in a Survey? Help for Survey Participants

If you require immediate assistance with verifying a survey is conducted by the Census Bureau, contact the Census Bureau Regional Office for your state or the Customer Service Center for more information.

Please note that the Census Bureau will never ask for your full social security number, bank account number, or passwords.

• Identifying which Census Bureau survey
• How to verify a mailing is from the Census Bureau
• How to identify a Census Bureau field representative
• How to identify a phone call from the Census Bureau

The Census Bureau conducts various surveys that study households, businesses, schools, hospitals, and more. These statistics deliver valuable information for local officials and organizations who provide resources and services to your community.

If you have been contacted to participate in a survey and wish to verify it is legitimate, you can search the Census Bureau’s list of surveys by name.

The name of the Census Bureau survey for which you have been contacted will be provided in the following ways:

• In a mailing from the Census Bureau.
• By a caller from the Census Bureau.

By a letter or brochure provided to you by a Census Bureau field representative.

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If you receive a survey or a letter in the mail from the Census Bureau, the envelope contains certain information that will help you verify its legitimacy. For example:

• U.S. Department of Commerce in the return address. This is the Census Bureau’s parent agency.
• Jeffersonville, Indiana in the return address. Most census- and survey-related materials are mailed from, and returned to, our National Processing Center at 1201 East 10^th St. in Jeffersonville, IN.

You may also receive a reminder letter from one of our regional offices or Census Bureau headquarters in the Washington, D.C. area.

Information for responding to a survey online is mailed to your address, including how to register online and/or log in. For information on whether a survey has the option to be completed online, please visit the survey’s webpage.

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If you are visited by someone from the Census Bureau, here are some ways to verify the individual is a Census Bureau employee:

• The field representative will present an ID badge that includes:
  • their name,
  • their photograph,
  • a Department of Commerce watermark, and
  • an expiration date.
• A field representative will be carrying an official bag with the Census Bureau logo or a laptop for conducting the survey.
• The field representative will provide you with a letter from the Census Bureau on official letterhead stating why they are visiting your residence.
• Field representatives conduct their work between the hours of 9am and 9pm, local time.
• Upon request, the field representative will provide you with their supervisor’s contact information and/or the phone number for your Census Bureau Regional Office. The Regional Office supervises the activities of all field representatives in your area.

If you wish to independently confirm that the person at your door is a Census Bureau employee, you can enter their name in the Census Bureau’s staff search website, or contact the Regional Office for your state.

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If your address was selected to be in a survey, we may call you to participate. Some surveys are done exclusively by phone. We might also call you if we do not find you at home or when a personal visit is not convenient.

You may receive a call from one of our contact centers or from a field representative.

The Census Bureau uses two contact centers, one in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and the other in Tucson, Arizona. The caller will identify themselves and the name of the survey. If they are unable to reach you, they will leave a message with a case ID associated with your survey.

Most Census Bureau calls asking you to participate in a survey originate from one of the following numbers:

• (812) 218-3144, Jeffersonville Contact Center
• (520) 798-4152, Tucson Contact Center

If you receive a call and wish to independently verify that a number is from the Census Bureau, you can call one of the following numbers:

• 1-800-523-3205   Jeffersonville, IN
• 1-800-642-0469   Tucson, AZ
• 1-800-923-8282   Customer Service Center

Field representatives who primarily do in-person interviews may also call you. To verify that a person is a Census Bureau field representative, you can enter their name in the Census Bureau Staff Search, a database that lists name and contact information for all Census Bureau employees.

We do not publish the cell phone numbers of our field representatives on our staff search website. However, the staff search function will identify our field representatives by name and email address.

You can also call the Census Bureau Regional Office associated with your state to verify that the individual is a Census Bureau employee or to speak with their supervisor.

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