The U.S. Census Bureau has released a proposed rule that would change some of the most consequential aspects of the decennial census: who gets counted, where they get counted and what questions get asked. These changes could affect the political representation your community gets, how much federal and state funding flows to it and the accuracy of the data many communities rely on for decisions about emergency management, transportation and infrastructure, economic development, education and more.
The 2030 Census is still years away, but the rules for how your residents will be counted are being written right now. Comments on the proposed changes are due Oct. 13, 2026.
Overview
On Sept. 10, 2026, the Census Bureau published a proposed rule that would make the following changes to the 2030 Census and all future decennial censuses:
- Changing the decennial census from counting everybody living in your community to only counting American citizens and lawful permanent residents (green card holders) for apportionment. This likely would also impact the state and federal funding available to communities.
- Considering the addition of a legal-status (e.g. citizenship) question on the decennial census.
- Changing what counts as a person’s “usual residence.”
- Changing what data the Census Bureau uses for the decennial census, including increasing the reliance on administrative data which can lead to inaccurate census counts.
- Barring collection of information on race and ethnicity, which have been asked since 1790, and sexual orientation, which have not been included on previous decennial censuses. It would make other demographic questions optional.
What’s Changing
Who Counts and Where
The federal government has traditionally counted everybody living in the country during the decennial census, following the Constitution’s mandate to count the “whole number of persons in each State.” The proposed rule would change who counts toward a state’s official population for congressional apportionment, limiting that count to American citizens and lawful permanent residents (green card holders). Unlike in previous censuses, students and workers holding visas, refugees and undocumented immigrants would not be included in that apportionment count. The rule also raises the question of whether a legal status question would need to be added to the census questionnaire.
The proposed rule would also change where and how people are counted. The census has relied on the concept of “usual residence” to decide where to count someone, counting them where they spend the majority of their time throughout the year. The proposed rule would, instead, change it to where someone lawfully spent the most days during a newly defined “census enumeration period” running from Jan. 3 to April 1 of the census year, backed up by tax records. Importantly, this could impact municipalities that have “snowbirds” leave during the winter months, but who live primarily in their municipality.
Additionally, the Bureau proposes to lean more heavily on administrative records — tax, immigration, health, postal and other federal and state data — to determine who qualifies as a resident, rather than relying solely on self-reported information. This could impact fast-growing communities and populations (e.g. students, part-time workers, children) that lack accurate records and lead to inaccurate counts.
What Gets Asked and How
The proposed rule would also bar the decennial census from asking about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Race and ethnicity questions have been asked since 1790 and could impact longitudinal analyses and data available to communities. The decennial census does not currently ask about sexual orientation.
Questions about sex, date of birth and household relationships would still be allowed, since the Bureau considers those necessary to verify who lives where. With the exception of those three categories, no one would be legally required to answer any demographic question on the census. Making the questions explicitly voluntary is a marked departure for the decennial census and could significantly impact the types of data available to municipalities, especially for smaller and more rural communities that may not have other sources of accurate data to rely on.
Why This Matters for Your Community
The census count determines your community’s federal representation and is the baseline that states and localities use to redraw legislative and council districts. Excluding a category of residents from that count, no matter how large or small a share of your population, changes those totals. Municipalities with meaningful immigrant, refugee and visa populations, regardless of legal status mix, could see their counted population shift.
Beyond seats in Congress, census data underpins the formulas that distribute hundreds of billions of dollars a year in federal and state funding for community priorities, such as community development, transportation, housing assistance and education. To encourage household participation, the Census has traditionally been sensitive to tactics that might cause apprehension or skepticism, especially for hard-to-count communities. A rule that ties enumeration more closely to legal status, potentially adding a legal-status question and expanding the Bureau’s use of administrative records from federal agencies, could serve as deterrents to an accurate count of all households and individuals served by local government operations and services, and their contributions to local economies. In terms of federal programs like Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and transit funding that are allocated in part by population, an undercount means fewer federal resources for everyone, not just the households that do not respond.
A less apparent, but no less consequential, proposed change in census practice would shift residence determinations toward tax records and cross-agency administrative data. Doing so could change how renters, seasonal workers, students and other mobile populations might be counted. This operational shift could impact smaller and rapidly growing communities that don’t fit neatly into a “one home, one tax return” model and jurisdictions do not have such administrative data necessary to replace door-to-door engagement.
Take Action
Before the Oct. 13 comment deadline, send the Census Bureau a comment letter describing how the proposed changes would affect your community’s population count, funding or representation. NLC has a template letter to help your community get started. You can also share your letter or broader concerns with your Members of Congress to build awareness on how these changes would impact your community. Feel free to send us an email and learn more.
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