With the 2020 Census fast approaching, Collin County community leaders are looking to raise awareness on the importance of having a complete count of the area's population.

Every 10 years since 1790, the U.S. Census Bureau has counted the number of people living in the country. Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding get distributed across state and communities and how many Congress seats a state gets, according to the bureau’s website.

To get the message out, Collin County Business Alliance started a “Collin County Counts” campaign in November.

"Collin County is one of the fastest growing areas in the entire country, so it is more important than ever that everyone is counted," according to a CCBA news statement released Nov. 7.

“On average, Texas will lose $11,610 in funding every decade for each person not counted in the 2020 Census,” CCBA Director Monica Shortino said in the release. “These are funds our region needs to help support vital programs that impact housing, education, transportation, employment, health care and public policy.”


An accurate count is also valuable to Collin County’s business community because it will help identify areas of growth, the release said. Given the results, businesses will be able to make informed decisions when deciding which areas they should establish their businesses in and where they should move their workforce.

The city of McKinney is also campaigning for a complete count with its “Let’s Make McKinney Count!” campaign.

McKinney's campaign website states that "it is every American's civic duty to respond to the census count, as it is outlined in the U.S. Constitution."

Census workers have a;ready started surveying neighborhoods and verifying addresses, according to the CCBA release, but Collin County residents will begin receiving census forms in March of 2020. When answering questions, residents will need to respond with where and with whom they live as of April 1, National Census Day.


Residents can respond to the census by phone, mail and, for the first time ever, online.

To find more information on the 2020 Census, view sample forms and more, visit the Census Bureau’s website here.