The Logistics of the US Census 

‘given that the country has the lowest unemployment rate in recent history’ fast forward 3 weeks and 6 million+ people have filed for unemployment. we’re living in a future history lesson. 2020 has been crazy to say the least, y’all stay safe out there 🙏

Plot Twist: This is actually the block where Wendover lives

Let’s see how long it takes him to mention airplanes He didn’t. A whole Wendover video with planes doesn’t feel real

"math isn't my thing" "ok, just take an online course on quantum mechanics or computer science"

USA : counting three hundred million people isn't exactly easy India: hold my curry

We’ve waited 10 years for this

I was a census enumerator for the 2010 Census in Los Angeles. Our directives were to visit a nonrespondent household 3 times before it gets pushed up to our local office in Norwalk where they will then send staff that may or may not be accompanied by the sheriff. The sheriff is really just there as a bodyguard since there are some households that are straight up hostile to even being asked the one question that matters: how many people live at this address on April 1st? There are many households that won't answer the other questions of the census and it takes a bit of effort to explain to them that the Census office, at a minimum, only needs to know how many people live there. All of the other questions were considered extra and basically nice to know questions. In fact, the respondent doesn't even need to give the Census their real names. Multi-lingual enumerators like me are also occasionally given census forms for nonrespondent households that have language barriers so I ended up going to Torrance and Gardena a few times for that reason. Anyway, enumerators are often given a badge and a cap and bag with the US Census logo on it. In the bag, we also have a "US CENSUS" sign to put up on the back of our car so that people know that we are on official business. The sign is useless against traffic cops though so enumerators still have to watch out for "no parking" signs and street cleaning dates. One of the most important items in the enumerator's bag is actually a laminated sheet with multiple languages for the respondent to choose from so that the enumerator can mark down which language the household uses and send the census form back to the local office for someone who speaks that language. I had one household that pointed to the Thai language on that sheet. Enumerators meet with their team leaders in the morning to turn in completed forms, timesheets, and receive new folders and assignments. Each folder corresponds to a census street block with a list of addresses already crossed out as done and census forms that correspond to addresses on the list that haven't been marked as completed. Final note, once enumerators are out and about, they are federal employees and the census form they fill out for an address is the final/official one. This means that people who didn't respond by mail in time will have to speak with the enumerators. If you don't want to be visited by an enumerator, then make sure that you fill out your census form and submit it in a timely manner. Regarding the video, enumerators also carry blank census forms in the event that they come across a household that isn't listed in the folder. I came across a couple of households that weren't listed in a folder so I had to write up the whole address by hand. There are also addresses that don't have any households because they are a business property. Some addresses actually corresponded to a different number because the number in question wasn't good (i.e. the number 444 isn't good in Asian neighborhoods). For whatever reason, the city still listed the old number even though the residents have formally changed the address number decades ago. That said, if you see an enumerator at your doorstep, just be chill about it. Sometimes they're just there because they're looking for your neighbor and got the wrong house (condominium complexes with no signage) and sometimes they're just there because your submission was late. Unlike you, they are actually working 7 days a week because they have to schedule their outings based on YOUR availability even though they aren't allowed to work over 40 hours.

Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one who gets excited for a census. Just that raw data and effort to obtain it is just incredible. I'm glad you also have a keen liking for the census.

In my country, Argentina, we conduct the census in only one day. That day everything shuts down and people are expected to stay at home, waiting for the enumerator. I think your system is better.

4:06 Not just satellite imagery, but also county land records and the database from the 2010 census. After comparing info, if some things didn't seem right to the software, then canvassers were sent out. I worked as an address canvasser for the census bureau in Central Florida last fall and the 8-week operation was mostly mobile home parks, developments under construction, and rural areas. Also, transitory locations are enumerated on the official census day...April 1. This includes homeless shelters/camps, soup kitchens, nursing homes, and campgrounds (where people may live full time in their RV).

What an incredible operation. Here in The Netherlands everything is just registered with the municipality.

Next video be like: The logistics of an average student.

I'm so incredibly glad that the census happens on years with clean numbers like 2020 lol

I worked as an enumerator for the 2010 Census, going around to non-respondents. It was a fascinating experience.

I worked on the 2016 Canadian census. I was second-in-command for an area that comprised about 15-20% of Winnipeg. The permanent census workers had already hired an enumeration staff for the entire city, so we didn't have to hire enumerators, but we were in charge of training those who'd be working in our area, supervising them, and collecting, organizing and shipping the census forms that they collected (as well as giving them lists of properties that they should visit to collect forms). Fortunately, more than 80% of people took the option to do the census online; it was only the ones who forgot, the ones who don't use computers, and those who had some objection to participating in the census, that we had to deal with. All in all, I think we collected in the neighbourhood of 3,000 forms (representing approximately 10,000 individual people) over the course of 2 months, which isn't a lot, but we were shooting for 100% compliance and those last stragglers do matter (nobody ACTUALLY gets 100% compliance, but you do what you can). My favourite thing to happen was when our enumerators (and us people in charge too...if our enumerators had an issue, we'd have to go collect the information ourselves) ran into the sovereign citizens of our fine city...they actually had signs posted on their gate warning members of "Her Majesty's Government" that they are sovereign and are under no legal obligation to Canada. Suffice to say...we never got census forms from them (it's actually a crime to not participate in the census, and you can get fined...but they rarely go after people who break this law). But it was kind of fun to argue with them...at first. Then it got frustrating. Weirdos.

lol, I literally got this on the way to get my prints taken to become an enumerator.

“The census is unconstitutional” - People who clearly haven’t read the constitution Edit: Thank you for the likes guys. I’m finally RU-vid famous, even if it’s only from comments.

“I wonder how planes will be involved” - Me before the video

When you can only find the stock footage for a single city block

2:35 "Given that the country currently has the lowest unemployment rate in recent history" Coronavirus: "hold my lime"

I'm a Census Enumerator, thanks for covering this Sam!

My country is homogenous Korean, we don’t need a Census. We just judge based on election data

As a computer scientist, I would love to see their database design or their backend of how they store all this data. There are so many things to take into account. What an enormous job!

Out of everything happening this year, the 2020 census results are what I am most excited about

In Australia the census is done every 6 years and everyone has to do it on a particular date, at a particular time (usually like 6 or 7pm), however, the last census in 2016 was the first one done online and you can do it any time on that day BUT you have to imagine it's that particular time. This is because the census looks at how many people, including visitors, are on your property at that time so everyone can be accounted for.

Gov: "We wanna give you resources" Them: "Cool!" Gov: "You just have to take this free survey" Them: "...We'll now I don't wanna do it"

2020 March: Finding 500,000 temp workers isn't exactly easy, since the unemployment is all time low 2020 April: Hold my beer, Corona

I live in Grand Junction... that’s my buddy’s neighborhood 😂

The count for the homeless is actually much more in-depth and cities actually do something call a point-in-time census where they have 24 hours to count each homeless individual in the city. This affects federal funding for homeless population that it motivates cities to ensure they get an accurate count.

He took the square state to simplify this 😂

I was a Census Enumerator in my country (Ireland)! This is incredibly similar to my country and brings back many memories! We had copies of the forms available in different languages and even cue cards to help people who may not have good english can fill it out! We only had 3 months to do the collecting and delivering :) We all had to go to every house in the country and hand deliver a paper form! But the biggest difference is it was everyone on the same day so a snapshot of that one day

"It's complicated due to having one of the lowest unemployement in recent history" That part has aged so bad so quickly...

You know it's a good day when Wendover upload

8:22 two kinds of people in cold weather

0:09 THIS is one block, of one city, of one state in the United States For a moment I thought this was a Doug Demuro video

Thanks for the time and effort

A regular person during December 31st, 2020: let's party to welcome the new year! Me during December 31st, 2020: oh boy! the census results are coming out today!

i wonder what the odds are someone lives in one of these particular houses and watches this video?

Great video as usual , thanks for your hardwork !

Great video as always!

All the dislikes are people who don’t participate in the census

2:35 "It's even more difficult for the 2020 census, given that the country currently has the lowest unemployment rate in recent history" Hahahahahahahahahahaha

Thank you for the video!

Man I love your work, just fantastic.

Sam: *not making video about planes* Everyone else: "Wait, that's illegal"

"Finding half-a-million temporary workers is, of course, incredibly difficult and it's even more difficult for the 2020 census given the country currently has the lowest unemployment rate in recent history." Ooooohhhhh....that did NOT age well.

Keep up the great work !

Imagine opening up youtube to watch a new Wendover video and half the video you're looking at a satellite image of you're house.

I feel must say - ive accidentally opened youtube and closed it in less than a second. In that time i've noticed this video's preview and in that half of a second i recognised this as a fresh Wendover video. That is a very good achievement.

Wendover: The US population is expected to be around 300 Million by 2020 Coronavirus: Unless...

Genuinely a very good video. Thank you.

Wonderful video!

Would love it if you do a video on South Korea's fight against covid 19. They are leading the world in technology and measures taken.

“...has the lowest unemployment rate in recent history...” Why did you release this video so early Wendover? Couldn’t ya have waited for some time?

See, this is a type of video I absolutely LOVE. I'm not an American and it's the kind of topic I know, quite literally, nothing about. Top 5 channel, that includes you and your affiliates! Keep going, man

Census data is so interesting to read, so it's also really interesting to know how it's collected! When I was working on my family's genealogy I got to search through digitized census records all the way back to the first census of Upper Canada. You can learn a lot about how families grow and change and what the average number of livestock on a farm is. I got to fill out the most recent census with my parents which was really interesting, since it was online and I was just getting ready to move away from home for the first time. By the next census it will just be my parents living alone...

I actually live in that green square that you zoomed into in grand junction i was like woah crazy

So interesting to me that this is even a thing! Where i live everyone is registered to the municipality and obliged by law to give notice if they move! Edit: I should clarify that i've never heard of anyone getting in trouble because they were living somewhere else for extended periods.

You gotta do one on the Indian census & elections. It's even more of a logistical miracle.

"given the record low unenployment" Covid-19 " hold my corona".

This is the second time that I've heard you use Grand Junction, CO as an example. I wonder how you came to choose it for this this video...

dude you should make a video on how the Europe travel ban (or just travel bans in general) affect the airlines and stuff, that would be really neat!

My dad came from Grand Junction, great video as always. I had no idea how complex the census was.

Saw this video last night. Next morning, Census 2020 in my mail box. Once in a decade opportunity.

I would love for you to do a video of how Google maps was made.

I applied a couple of weeks ago. I received a call and now I’m excited to have my first Federal Job as an Enumerator for the 2020 Census.

when its december 4th and you havent responded to the census yet, and you get an email enforming you there is an enumerator in your walls

The park with the American flags and bridge pictured at 1:04 are near my neighborhood in Rochester PA!

2:38 well that aged well

Can we talk about how funny this stock footage is? 3:25

At 0:58 it's a view of the mouth of Beaver River from Rochester, PA. So neat to see home

I love this kind of video

Or, you do it like Europe where a continous record of all changes of houses or people moving is made and you never have a census.

0:51 Puerto Rico is not coloured as a part of USA. The smallest mistake I have ever noticed.

Great video.

I live in Denver Colorado, I love it!

Anything involving planning: exists Wendover: it's free real estate

6:00 I thought it said boomer instead of 'roomer' lol

Worked for the Census this year. Field operations ended up being pushed way later and for me was completed in August/September

Thank you. This video helped me finally get some sleep so I could get away from my back pain

2:34 aged well...

Fill out the census, y'all! it determines, among other things, how many representatives your state gets and how much funding you get from the federal government! There isn't going to be a citizenship question btw.

I was an enumerator for a month in the summer of 2016 in Houston, Texas. They were using us to test new technology to count people. We had a cell phone that gave us a list of addresses to go to interview people. We could update that list if an address was not there in fact. I would have to interview whoever answered the door about the household and if they didn't answer than leave a flyer indicating our attempt and return or to go online and complete it. Many people didn't answer the door and some who did didn't want to answer the questions.

Idk why but that whole process and undertaking seem really interesting.

2:39 if only we knew x''D

In 2010 the economy was so bad the census takers were very high quality. The census came in 3 months early and a billion under budget. LOL

Hey Sam, I would love to see a video about the logistics of retiring (and ultimately scrapping) aircraft. Is the boneyard a regularly operating airport? Do they have to transport the planes between sites when they land at the airport. Is there competition for operating an aircraft retirement facility?? Thanks. Oh and I still would love to see a video about the logistics of paying NFL players (or really any professional athlete) who works in a different state each week. Seems like there's enough there (or maybe it's a HAI vid) and it is good current events with the NFL/NFLPA recently ratifying the new CBA.

This was actually pretty interesting. Thanks.

What if you're solo sailing on a small private sailboat headed to Hawaii.... Going Very slowly.

What about people in prison, do they get a specialized form? And what about people in jail? Is their residence considered the jail, or their actual house?

I was a census counter who went to people's houses. It sucked as a job. Most of the time, they were hostile to anyone knocking on their door. And a few times, I had a gun pointed in my face. As a college kid, I didn't last long.

I was born in Grand Junction. Moved when I was two but it's still super crazy to see it pop up like this!

“It’s even more difficult for the 2020 census given the US has the lowest unemployment rate in recent history” that sentence didn’t age well 😂😂

So funny to see that almost every country needs a census. In Germany we have something called "Einwohnermeldeamt" which registeres everyone Bering born and immigrating in real time. We therefore have almost live data of our population..

As an ex sober house manager , these numbers are vastly under reported. I had no idea and no training on what to say to census employees , so left to my own confusion , fear of red tape, and volatility of house members I would report my sober house as a single family household with no more than 4 adults living there, while 7-20 people may occupy the home

I almost got hire to be a Census counter. They offerd $19 an hour but they said it was gonna be for only a month or 2 and I needed more permanent work

You know, in my country this information is just registered: who you are, where you live, where houses are located, etc

In India , Census means a person with a notebook asking questions about your family.

If you haven't already covered it, I'd love a video about how the changes in NYC's housing laws resulted in different 'characteristic' buildings for different time periods. E.g. the 'old law' tenements with their classic hourglass shape and air shafts, the 'new law' tenements with their courtyards. Sometime in the 1970's or so they also added a law that if the building was above a certain height it had to jog away from the street at about the 6th floor, resulting, again, in a characteristic shape, etc.

!! I grew up in Grand Junction! Nice to see us recognized by the outside world!