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Feds Hiring Thousands In Jacksonville For Census Count

Photo of Census envelope
NPR

As the federal government prepares to count the population, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Jacksonville office must fill up to 2,700 jobs in the next 60 days.

The jobs include Census takers and office personnel. The pay ranges from $16 to $17.50 an hour.

The recruiting push in Jacksonville is part of the Census Bureau’s effort to hire 500,000 people nationwide, with the start of the 2020 census just around the corner. 

This month, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham will travel to remote Alaska to personally count the first person in the census. The count will kick off in the rest of the country in mid-March.

Responses to the 2020 Census are used by state, local, and federal officials to determine billions of dollars of funding every year for public services like hospitals, schools, first responders, and roads.

Florida is also likely to pick up two new congressional members and has an outside chance of gaining a third following the Census count, according to Virginia-based political consulting firm Election Data Services. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated earlier this month there are 21.48 million Floridians.

Those interested in applying for a Census job can do so at this website.

Contact Jessica Palombo at 904-358-6315, jpalombo@wjct.org or on Twitter at @JessicaPubRadio.

Jessica Palombo supervises local news gathering and production, podcasts and web editorial content for WJCT News, ADAPT and Jacksonville Today. She is an award-winning writer and journalist with bylines including NPR, Experience Magazine, and The Gainesville Sun. She has a master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University and is an alumna of the University of Florida. A nearly lifelong resident of Jacksonville, she considers herself lucky to be raising her own children in her hometown. Follow Jessica Palombo on Twitter: @JaxJessicaP