Proposed Rule: Decennial Census of the Population of Americans

Overview

On September 10, the Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau published proposed regulations that would add two new provisions to the regulations governing the decennial census. The first provision would establish residence criteria for determining whether and where an individual is counted to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The second provision would prohibit questions about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation on the decennial census or any other questionnaire used to enumerate the population.

If finalized, proposed regulations would affect the 2030 and future decennial censuses. Comments are due Tuesday, October 13, 2026.

Proposed Changes

Changes to the Population Used for Congressional Apportionment

Under the proposal, only citizens and lawful permanent residents would be counted for congressional apportionment. This means the count for House apportionment would exclude temporary workers, international students, refugees who have not yet obtained lawful permanent residence, and individuals with other temporary or humanitarian immigration status, as well as undocumented immigrants. 

To help establish a process for identifying which foreign citizens are lawful permanent residents, the Census Bureau is considering:

• Using administrative records from Departments of Treasury, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, State, and more to determine an individual’s citizenship or immigration status. 
• Adding a question about legal status to the decennial census questionnaire. 
• Combining questionnaire responses with administrative records. 

Definition of “Usual Residence”

The proposed rule would establish a new regulatory definition of “usual residence” for the decennial census. This definition states that:

• A person’s usual residence would generally be the residence where the person lawfully spent the greatest number of days during the “census enumeration period”, from January 3 through April 1 of each decennial census year. 
• A person’s “usual residence” should be consistent with their tax records (e.g., tax returns, W-2 forms).
• A person is considered to have spent a day at a residence if he or she spent at least one hour physically and lawfully present there that day. A person may spend a certain day at more than one residence.

Related, the proposed rule also establishes “usual residence” criteria for several specific populations including but not limited to dependents, federal personnel outside the U.S., military personnel, individuals at correctional and detention facilities, and more.

Restrictions on Demographic Questions and Publication Demographic Data

The proposed rule would prohibit questions about race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation from appearing on the decennial census short-form questionnaire or any other questionnaire used to enumerate the population. Questions about biological sex, date of birth, and household relationships would continue to be included to help verify population data. 

Impact on Philanthropy

If finalized, the proposed rule could affect the information foundations and their nonprofit partners use to assess community needs and evaluate program effectiveness.

The changes to the apportionment population could produce population counts that do not reflect the full number of people living in and receiving services within a community. This could be particularly significant for foundations and nonprofits serving areas with large immigrant, refugee, and/or noncitizen populations. The removal of race and ethnicity questions could also reduce the availability of consistent demographic information for small geographic areas. Although demographic information may still be collected through the ACS and administrative records, those sources are unlikely to fully replace the geographic reach, coverage, consistency, and public accessibility of the decennial census.

This proposal would make it more difficult for philanthropic organizations to develop reliable community-level assessments, direct limited charitable resources, evaluate outcomes, and coordinate their work with governmental and nonprofit partners.