Bureau seeks workers for upcoming 2020 Census

Area residents looking to make a little extra cash have their opportunity courtesy of the Census Bureau. The agency is looking for 700,000 workers to be census takers for the upcoming 2020 Census.

In Carbon County, the job pays $16 per hour and 58 cents per mile, while it pays up to $18 per hour in surrounding counties such as Monroe, Northampton and Lehigh. Workers in Schuylkill County will be paid $19.50 per hour.

The job, while it may not always sound glamorous, is an important one, said Mark Grim of the Census Bureau office in Allentown.

“This is how federal funds are allocated,” Grim said. “It determines the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives, and it determines funding for schools, highway projects, hospitals, seniors, etc. The value of the census is astronomical and people have a chance to get paid well to be a part of that.”

While the bureau hopes that sales pitch will entice people to race to 2020census.gov to apply, not everyone will be eligible. Grim said applicants have to be 18 years old with valid physical and email addresses, a computer, a phone and reliable transportation. Applicants must also pass a background check. Men, he added, must have a selective service card. Veterans also receive priority when going for census jobs.

Money earned from working for the Census Bureau will not count toward government assistance income thresholds.

“If you have SNAP benefits, this will not impact those,” Grim said.

The number of workers needed varies by county, but Carbon has one of the smaller goals at 500 people. Monroe, Northampton and Lehigh counties all have recruitment targets of over 1,500 census takers.

Recruiting workers hasn’t been easy, Grim said.

“We pretty much do the same thing as a Girl Scout trying to sell cookies,” he said. “We go to places where we can hit a large amount of people that hit the profile we are looking for. We go door-to-door as well, trying to gather people. Ideally, we want people who look and talk like the people that live in that area. For example, we’re not going to send someone from Palmerton to the middle of South Philadelphia.”

A number of factors have hampered efforts to find census takers. Number one on the list is a significant distrust of government. Grim himself worked as a census taker 10 years ago and spent this summer geo-spotting, or verifying addresses.

“I think the number one thing keeping people away is that they are scared,” Grim said.

“I’ve had dogs let loose on me. One property I went on had a sign that said, ‘if you can read this, you’re in range.’ I want to stress though that this job is safe. If someone puts a hand on you, it’s a felony. You’re a federal employee.”

Census takers are also sworn to secrecy. Any information collected while working for the bureau can’t be divulged, Grim said.

Most households will have received a census invitation in the mail by April 1, while others will get theirs from a census taker going door-to-door.

Bureau officials said it should take less than 10 minutes to complete the census.

The census, for the first time in history, will also be available to complete online at www.census.gov.