PHOENIX (Arizona, United States): The Trump administration has abruptly reduced the number of field test sites for the 2026 Census Trial, eliminating four of six previously announced locations, including tribal lands in Arizona, triggering concern among census experts and tribal leaders about the adequacy of preparations for the 2030 decennial count. The reduction shifts the focus of the trial almost entirely to two urban areas in the U.S. South, prompting criticism that communities historically undercounted will not be adequately studied.
Federal plans for the 2026 Census Test initially included a diverse mix of sites selected to stress test new methods the U.S. Census Bureau intends to deploy next decade. Those sites were chosen for characteristics such as low self response rates, rural isolation, limited internet access, large numbers of nonmaileable addresses and populations that were undercounted in 2020, including tribal reservations. Among the planned areas were Colorado Springs, Colorado; tribal lands within Arizona that encompass the Fort Apache and San Carlos reservations; western North Carolina including the Qualla Boundary; and rural counties in western Texas. The two remaining sites after the cuts are Huntsville, Alabama, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, both metropolitan areas.
The changes were outlined in a notice filed by the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, and will be officially published in the Federal Register. Census officials say the agency still seeks to conduct the “most accurate count in history” for the 2030 Census and values continued partnerships with local communities. However, the agency has not publicly explained why the scope of the test was reduced.
Experts warn the narrower testing could hamper efforts to tailor census methods to reach populations that have proven difficult to count, including tribal and indigenous populations. They say it limits insight into conditions in isolated tribal lands, rural regions with limited connectivity and areas with chronic low response rates. Without direct testing in diverse contexts, the bureau risks entering 2030 without validated strategies for complex enumeration challenges, they said.
Field tests are crucial to the census process. The 2026 Census Test is intended to allow the bureau to evaluate new outreach, staffing and enumeration techniques, including the potential use of US Postal Service workers in roles historically performed by census takers. The tests also help refine messaging and data processing systems that will be used nationwide. Past census research demonstrates the importance of extensive testing; the last full dress rehearsal for the head count in 2018 revealed challenges that informed operations in 2020.
The census, held once in a decade, determines the allocation of congressional seats and Electoral College votes, and guides the distribution of an estimated $3 trillion in federal funds annually. Undercounts in the 2020 Census disproportionately affected communities of color, low-income populations and Native American reservations, groups that advocates say must be central to test planning for 2030. Critics argue the latest reductions could jeopardize efforts to address chronic undercounting in these communities.
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