JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – With social distancing in effect, now is a time for you to be self counted by the United States Census.

Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the United States has counted its population every 10 years since 1790. Using this data, health clinics, fire departments, schools, roads, highways, and more benefit.

Great Plains Housing Authority Executive Director David Klein says making sure everyone is counted is vital not only nationally, but locally too.

Klein says the Census gives businesses the best date on who is in the community, how many are there, age groups, ethnic backgrounds, and more.

According to Kevin Iverson, manager of the Census Office at the North Dakota Department of Commerce, “Every person we fail to count will cost the state of North Dakota more than $19,000 over the next 10 years., an average of $43,000 per each household.”

Participating in the self response will also limit the amount workers will have to go door to door to collect an accurate count for the census.

The City of Jamestown and City of Valley City are currently in a friendly competition to collect the most self counted census numbers. Click here for that full story.

You can fill out the Census by visiting 2020census.gov.

Listen to a full Let’s Talk About It with David Klein below: