The U.S. Census Bureau announced on March 23 that it has selected Huntsville, Alabama, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, as the sites for its upcoming 2026 Census Test. The test aims to explore how collaboration with the U.S. Postal Service could improve census operations ahead of the 2030 national count.
The selection of these two locations is intended to help the Census Bureau evaluate new methods for increasing response rates and refining in-field data collection processes. This initiative comes as part of ongoing efforts to ensure a more complete and accurate count while also reducing costs and field workloads.
Beginning May 1, approximately 154,600 households across both cities will be invited to participate by completing an online questionnaire—available only in English—using computers or mobile devices. Unlike previous tests, phone and mail responses will not be accepted this time. The questions mirror those from the American Community Survey and are expected to take about forty minutes per household.
From June through August, census takers—including postal workers—will visit non-responding households in person. In Huntsville, postal workers will be hired as temporary Census Bureau employees working outside their regular USPS hours; they will identify themselves solely as census staff during visits. In Spartanburg, participating postal workers will collect responses along their normal delivery routes during work hours while clearly identifying themselves as USPS employees.
All participating postal workers must undergo background checks and specialized training to uphold confidentiality under federal law. About twenty-five postal workers—and an equal number of traditional census takers—will serve at each site during this pilot program.
This collaboration builds on longstanding ties between the agencies and is designed to assess whether leveraging local knowledge can streamline future counts. According to officials, lessons learned from this test may shape innovations for the full-scale 2030 Census.
