Census 2030 Update: Public Comments on Proposed Changes Due October 13
By: John LaMacchia,
September 22, 2026
The Census Bureau issued a federal register notice with proposed changes to the 2030 decennial census on September 10. Public comments are due by October 13th. The proposed changes fall into two major areas: (1) redefining residence criteria and (2) restricting the inclusion of certain demographic questions in the decennial census.
Proposed changes for the 2030 decennial census
The first set of proposed changes to residence criteria would only include U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents in the apportionment count. The federal register notice also solicits comments on the inclusion of a legal-status question on the 2030 Census questionnaire. The other major proposed change to residence criteria would define “usual residence” as the time window from January 3 to April 1.
The second set of proposed changes would prohibit questions about race and ethnicity or sexual orientation in the decennial questionnaire. Here is a link to the 2020 decennial census questionnaire for reference on how these data were collected in 2020.
The federal register notice states the following about public comments: “All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be posted and publicly accessible. Census will accept anonymous comments (enter “N/A” in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).”
John LaMacchia is the League’s director of state & federal affairs. He can be reached at [email protected] or 517-908-0303.