Published October 2, 2026
On September 10, the U.S. Census Bureau published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would have enormous negative impacts on the accuracy and fairness of the 2030 Census and beyond.
The Census often misses communities struggling with hunger — a failing that this proposal would exacerbate. The nation’s most vulnerable populations — for example, families with children, African Americans, Latinx people, Asian American and Pacific Islanders, and people living in rural areas and in the South — continue to struggle with disproportionately higher rates of food insecurity than the national average and are often the same groups undercounted by the census. Historically, the decennial census disproportionately leaves out hard-to-count communities, including people of color, homeless individuals, immigrants, young children, people with low incomes, and rural households.
As written, the proposal would exclude residents, result in an inaccurate count, and prohibit collection of important data on the characteristics of our population. Such outcomes are unacceptable and would harm all Americans.
What Is the Census?
The decennial census is a count of every person living in the U.S., conducted every 10 years in years ending in “0.” It satisfies the constitutional requirement that every 10 years the federal government conducts a count of all living people in the U.S. for the purposes of congressional apportionment, the process of distributing the 435 congressional seats among the 50 states.
In addition to a simple count, the decennial census asks for basic information about households: such as where the household lives, the number of people in the household, and certain characteristics of household members (race, ethnicity, age). The census does not ask for Social Security numbers or citizenship status. Responses to the census are confidential and secure.
Why the Census Matters
- A fair and accurate census provides essential data for timely, reliable research, including research on food access and participation in nutrition programs. An accurate count ensures that every person is counted, counted only once, and counted in the correct location.
- Findings from the census are used to determine how billions of dollars — both public and private — are distributed, including funds to address poverty. Federal, state, and local governments rely on census data to make decisions about allocating hundreds of billions of dollars for community needs. Undercounting means states and communities may get less federal funding than they need for critical programs that play a role in addressing poverty, including Medicaid, Section 8 Housing Assistance Vouchers, and Head Start.
- The census results impact the planning and administration of federal nutrition programs. Census data helps inform funding allocations for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The census count helps federal, state, and local officials plan and evaluate funding for nutrition programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Census data also helps determine which Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) family day care homes qualify for higher reimbursement rates (Tier 1) by identifying areas with high concentrations of children in low-income households. Finally, census data helps identify areas where at least 50 percent of children are from low-income households, allowing Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sites in those areas to qualify as area eligible.
- The census results are used to determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives each state gets and are used in state redistricting, helping shape who represents communities. Those elected officials play a critical role in influencing anti-hunger policies and program investments.
- Census data is used to benchmark most other data sources. The decennial census counts every person, but most other data collections, like the annual American Community Survey (ACS), which asks many more detailed questions, or the now-cancelled Food Security Supplement (FSS) rely on a sample of the population. Accurate decennial census data is critical for knowing how representative the ACS or FSS sample is and allows statisticians to properly weigh those surveys so that national estimates are valid.
Key Proposed Changes
The U.S. Census Bureau proposal would:
- Exclude certain U.S. residents, including visa holders, refugees, and asylum seekers, from census counts. The census is designed to count all people living in the U.S., and its results are used to inform decisions about distributing resources and establishing eligibility for programs, including the federal nutrition programs.
- Remove questions about race and ethnicity. The U.S. has asked about race in every census since the first one in 1790. Understanding the racial and ethnic makeup of communities allows advocates to compare the racial and ethnic composition of SNAP and WIC caseloads and school meal participations to the larger population and assess representativeness, which is the first step in identifying uneven barriers to participation.
- Change where people are counted. The census generally counts people at their usual residence, which is the place where they live and sleep most of the time. Under the proposed rule, residence would instead be based on where a person spent the most days during a newly defined “census enumeration period” from January 3 through April 1. This makes it likely that some people — including children in foster care, people in emergency shelters, or seasonal workers — could be excluded from the count.
- Use tax records as evidence of a person’s usual residence. Tax records often reflect a mailing address (such as post office box, business address, or tax preparer’s address) rather than residential address and are inconsistent with residence for many taxpayers, including for many military personnel and their families. Extreme reliance on tax records also risks missing many dependent children in the count.
This rulemaking process is moving too quickly. The proposal allows only 33 days for public comment. Significant regulatory actions such as this one deserve more time for the public to review and respond.
Submit a Comment on the Proposed Rule
It is crucially important that the U.S. Census Bureau hears from many voices about how devastating these changes would be. These proposed changes affect us all — researchers; program participants; users of roads, schools, and hospitals; and voters, future voters, and non-voters who nonetheless have congressional representation. Comments are due by October 13, 2026. Advocates must make clear that these changes would worsen hunger and food insecurity in every community.
Visit Hands Off Our Census for more information about the proposal and guidance on writing a comment, including a template you can use to get started.