US census takers to conduct test runs in Colorado 4 years before 2030 count

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Six places in the South and West will host practice runs for the next U.S. head count in 2030. The census helps determine political power and the distribution of federal funds. Residents of western Texas; tribal lands in Arizona; Colorado Springs, Colorado.; western North Carolina; Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Huntsville, Alabama, will be encouraged to fill out practice census questionnaires in the spring of 2026. Census Bureau officials said Monday that they hope the tests will help ensure that in 2030, they count the people who were missed in the 2020 census.