Understanding the Proposed Rule on the Decennial Census and What it Means for Counties

Friday, Oct. 2, 2026 | 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. ET

NACo is hosting a webinar to walk participants through the recently released proposed rule on changes to the Decennial Census. Participants will hear an overview of the proposed rule with explanation of what is changing, how it could affect local government funding, and what counties need to know as the comment deadline approaches on October 13.
 
Background

On September 10, the U.S. Census Bureau published a proposed rule governing the decennial census that would add two new parts to Title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Among other changes, the rule would define "usual residence" as the place where a person has lawfully spent the greatest number of days during a defined enumeration period, evidenced by administrative and tax records, and exclude from the apportionment count foreign citizens who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents previously counted; and prohibit questions about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. The rule also sets the enumeration period from January 3 to April 1 of each decennial census year;  makes most remaining demographic responses voluntary; limits disclosure avoidance where it would introduce uncertainty into national or state population counts; and invites comment on adding a legal-status question to the short-form questionnaire. Comments are due October 13, 2026.