"The Cranberry Township Area Census Office located at 260 Executive Drive has begun recruiting and training workers for the 2020 census."

CRANBERRY TWP — It’s that time of the decade when the U.S. Census Bureau seems to be always hiring.

“We’re hiring over a half million jobs across the country. That’s hundreds of jobs in your area,” said Susan Licate, a media specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau.

The bureau offers flexible part-time positions that could range from a few hours per week to 40 hours per week.

Applicants can navigate www.2020census.gov/jobs to find a list of open positions.

Pay rates for Butler County census employees range from $18 to $20 per hour, depending on the job. A resume is not necessary, and applicants do not need previous experience.

“We encourage all backgrounds to apply,” Licate said.

Once hired, local recruits will be thoroughly trained at the Cranberry Township administrative office, and are even paid while they train.

Licate said training is intensive due to the handling of sensitive information, which census personnel are bound by law to keep private. She said census takers are also trained with their own safety in mind too, and part of the flexibility of these jobs is the ability to choose the areas in which they work.

Census takers are also trained to work with special populations such as homeless individuals and families.

“We ensure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity, no matter where they are staying,” Licate said.

According to data collected this week, Butler County has reached 41.8 percent of their recruitment goal. However, the number of jobs in the county that percentage equates to was not readily available.

“We don’t have exact figures for that,” Licate said. “The enumeration needs vary based on the area and the type of work one is doing.”

Licate said census takers have a large impact on the success of the decennial census conducted every 10 years. She said people are more comfortable responding to people they know.

“We’d love to have a 100 percent response rate for the census,” she said. “The local workers are key to that.”

Licate said joining the bureau’s workforce is a way people can be involved in helping their community by collecting accurate data that translates into the spending of federal money.

The U.S. Census directs the spending of $675 billion in federal funding every year for the next 10 years.

“How that translates in this area is through our roads and bridges and funding for community infrastructures,” she said. “It’s all derived from the data derived from the Census. Census data is what drives funding for programs.”

She said programs and organizations like fire departments, free medical clinics, school lunch programs and colleges grants rely heavily on data collected during the Census for funding.

“It really has a far-reaching a long-lasting impact,” Licate said.