Miss Filling Out The Census Online? The State Is Sending You A Paper Form

April 09, 2020

WBUR Newsroom

This Sunday, April 5, 2020, photo shows an envelope containing a 2020 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident in Detroit. If you're a census slacker and haven’t yet filled out the form for the 2020 head count, the federal government is trying another way to get in touch with you. Starting Wednesday, the U.S. Census Bureau is mailing out millions of paper forms to homes whose residents haven’t yet answered the once-a-decade questionnaire. (Paul Sancya/AP)

If you didn't fill out your 2020 census online, you'll soon be getting the form in the mail.

Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin said Wednesday he believes the census is especially important in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

"I think people need to think of this as a step towards economic recovery, to make so that the federal government knows we're here and they will be sure to give us what we're entitled to in terms of federal assistance," he told WBUR.

The Census Bureau says 47% of Massachusetts households have already responded, mostly online. That is slightly higher than the national average.

If people don't send in the paper form, the bureau will send a census worker out to get a count.