The U.S. Census Bureau announced on March 23 that it has chosen Huntsville, Alabama, and Spartanburg, South Carolina as sites for its 2026 Census Test. The test aims to evaluate new methods of working with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to improve census data collection ahead of the 2030 Census.
The selection of these sites is significant because it will allow the Census Bureau to explore whether involving postal workers in census operations can increase response rates and streamline fieldwork. Officials hope this approach could lead to more efficient enumeration processes and lower costs during future national counts.
Starting May 1, approximately 154,600 households in both locations will be invited to respond online in English using computers or mobile devices. There will be no option for phone or mail responses during this test phase. The questions asked will mirror those from the American Community Survey, covering topics such as name, race, sex, citizenship status, and education level.
Households that do not respond independently may receive visits from census takers between June 1 and August 31. In Huntsville, postal workers hired as temporary Census Bureau employees will collect responses outside their regular USPS duties; they will identify themselves solely as census staff. In Spartanburg, postal workers participating in the pilot program will integrate census tasks into their usual mail delivery routes while wearing USPS uniforms and acting as sworn-in federal agents upholding confidentiality laws.
This initiative builds on a longstanding partnership between the agencies but marks a new effort by integrating local knowledge from postal carriers into official population counting activities. Both city and rural carriers are included at each site alongside traditional non-postal worker enumerators.
The outcomes of this test are expected to inform decisions about staffing models and field operations for the next decennial count in 2030. For more information about these efforts or future developments regarding national population counts, readers can visit the official webpages dedicated to the 2026 Census Test.
