U.S. Census Bureau field workers set to visit Aurora homes for special census
The online reporting period for the Aurora special census has ended, and residents in certain areas of the city can expect U.S. Census Bureau field workers to be knocking on doors in their neighborhood beginning in mid-September.
The special census focuses only on certain recently developed areas, city officials have said. Officials are urging residents to participate, adding that a perceived undercount in the 2020 census cost the city millions of dollars in shared tax revenue.
The U.S. Census Bureau field representatives plan to visit houses that did not respond to the special census online or did not receive mailed materials, according to a bureau spokesperson.
In addition, field representatives will visit households to verify and update the Census Bureau’s current address lists, according to the spokesperson.
Visits are brief and typically take about 10 minutes, officials said.
The field representatives will ask residents the same special census questions asked online, U.S. Census Bureau officials said.
Field workers will carry a valid U.S. Census Bureau ID that includes their name, photo, Department of Commerce watermark, and expiration date, officials said. They will also have an official Census Bureau‑issued bag marked with the agency logo.
These representatives will never ask for sensitive information such as a Social Security number, bank account details, or passwords, officials said.
City officials are urging residents to open their doors and participate in the special census, as doing so could increase city revenue.
The response rate for the online portion of the census was 22%, city officials said recently.
Part of the response issue, Aurora Mayor John Laesch said, was that some households in the areas taking part in the special census did not receive letters with instructions to complete the census online. The Census Bureau field workers are also working to count those households, he said.
“Please open your door,” Laesch said. “They’re not selling anything. They just want to make sure you get counted in the census.”
Information gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau is confidential and not disclosed to law enforcement, including federal immigration and customs enforcement, Laesch said.
Information on citizenship is not collected during special census data collection, according to U.S. Census Bureau officials, and responses are safe, secure and protected by federal law.
The city requested the special census after officials felt that Aurora was undercounted in the 2020 decennial census and that new construction and development in the city was left out. The census that year reported that Aurora had lost around 17,000 residents compared to the 2010 census, according to a city press release in late July.
City officials have claimed the perceived undercount has led to the city losing over $4.3 million per year in shared tax revenue.
While the city can’t recover lost funds from past years, officials have said the special census could help close that funding gap going forward by adding recently developed areas to Aurora’s total population count.
The special census was delayed in 2025, in part, because of feedback from local organizations that warned people against opening their doors or speaking to anyone working for the federal government, given fears over the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
City officials have previously said data collected through the special census is legally protected and only for statistical use. They said there will not be a question about citizenship.
For more information on the 2026 Aurora special census, along with an interactive tool to determine if a specific home falls within the special census boundaries, go to aurora.il.us/SpecialCensus.
awright@chicagotribune.com