Decennial Census 2026 Proposed Regulations Comment Guide

Background

The decennial census collects population and demographic information and currently includes everyone who resides in the U.S. and five U.S. territories. The last census collected the number of people living or staying in the household; sex, age, birthdate, race, ethnicity of each person in the household; and other information such as rental or ownership status. Census data is used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives, but has other uses, such as allocating federal funds and evaluating community needs. This includes assessing where charitable resources can produce the greatest benefit, the service gaps supported by census data, and how communities change over time.

Proposed Changes to the Decennial Census

On September 10, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the Census Bureau published proposed regulations that would add new provisions to the regulations governing the census. The main changes include:

Population Count Used for Congressional Apportionment (§ 60.4): Undocumented immigrants, temporary workers, international students, refugees who have not yet obtained lawful permanent residence, and individuals with other temporary or humanitarian immigration status, would be excluded from future censuses.

• Impact on Community Foundations: Future census data would affect grantmaking and other partnerships, especially in areas with large immigrant populations. This would also impact funding for federal programs such as SNAP, Head Start, and others that use census data. Proposed changes could also affect allocations for Community Project Funding, also known as earmarks.

Restrictions on Demographic Questions (§ 70.1 and § 70.2): This would prohibit questions about race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation from appearing on the census short-form questionnaire or any other questionnaire used to enumerate the population. 

• Impact on Community Foundations: This would reduce the availability of consistent demographic information for small areas, making it more difficult to assess local needs and service gaps. Other Census Bureau sources are unlikely to replace the geographic reach of the census, creating a need to fund research for local demographic estimates.

Residence Criteria (§ 60.2): This would establish a new definition of “usual residence” for the census that excludes some populations. It would also establish criteria for specific populations including but not limited to dependents, federal personnel outside the U.S., military personnel, individuals at correctional and detention facilities, and more.

• Impact on Community Foundations: This could produce a population count that does not reflect the context of everyone who lives in a community and make it difficult to develop reliable assessments.

Why Submitting a Comment Matters

If finalized, the proposed regulations would affect the 2030 Census and others in the future. Commerce and the Census Bureau must review all comments submitted; the final rule could reflect or address specific points raised. You can support the work of community foundations by detailing your perspective and impact.

Use the outline below to help your community foundation tell Commerce and the Census Bureau how the proposed regulations would affect your work. We suggest you don’t change the heading or subject line since they are taken directly from the request for public comments. Submit your comment on or before Tuesday, October 13.

Comment Outline

October 13, 2026
Department of Commerce
Attention: Census Bureau
Docket No. 260903-0005
RIN 0607-AA75

Re: Decennial Census Population of Americans; Proposed Residence Criteria and Proposed Regulations for Demographic Questions

Introduction: Share a blurb about your community foundation, how you use census data, and why it is important to your work. You can also include what is driving your comment, such as valuing a complete population count that reflects the number of people living in your community.

What You Will Address: Summarize your thoughts about the proposed changes and outline which ones you’ll address throughout your comment. You can also list them after summarizing your thoughts.

• Note: If you include a list, make sure the order of the sections in the list of contents reflects the order in which they are detailed before you submit your comment.

Population Count Used for Congressional Apportionment (§ 60.4) and Residence Criteria (§ 60.2): Recommend that Commerce and the Census Bureau should continue providing a complete count of the population and remove the proposals. One proposal would only include U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents in the apportionment count. The other would create a new “usual residence” criteria for the census. You can recommend removing one or both.

• What to Consider: How implementing the proposed change would affect your work, including how the population count helps you direct limited charitable resources; coordinating partnerships, especially if parts of your community would be excluded from future censuses; the programs that use census data and would be impacted or at risk in your community; or other considerations Commerce and the Census Bureau should address in the final rule and future work.

Restrictions on Demographic Questions (§ 70.1 and § 70.2): Recommend that Commerce and the Census Bureau should remove this proposal and continue to include questions about race and ethnicity in the decennial census and other questionnaires. You can also recommend whether to include a question about sexual orientation in the future, or note that your recommendation focuses on questions about race and ethnicity.

• What to Consider: How implementing the proposed change would affect your work, including the ability to evaluate service gaps and specific changes over time within your community; the programs that use census demographics data whose reliability would be impacted or compromised; why other sources cannot fully replace the reach of the decennial census; or other considerations Commerce and the Census Bureau should address in the final rule and future work.

Conclusion: Reiterate the points raised and why the decennial census matters to your community foundation.

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