I don't know, it starts to seem more reasonable if you consider that they're collecting simple demographic information from everyone, including people without c

I don't know, it starts to seem more reasonable if you consider that they're collecting simple demographic information from everyone, including people without computers or permanent addresses. My guesses, from most to least plausible: —Personnel. As skybrian mentioned, the last census employed half a million people [0], so I assume this system has to keep track of all of them and what places they're assigned to canvas. —Hardware. The 2010 census used 500,000 handheld computers [1]. This cost probably doesn't include any handhelds, but it does mean that it has to receive data from devices. —Mapping and GIS. The census releases data for tons of geographic levels, so this system needs to either interface with whatever existing system they have or implement all of that. —Data formats. This information is collected in multiple formats (phone, paper, in-person survey), possibly including scanned images. —Related information. The census has to count everyone, so they also have to track a huge number of addresses. —Other surveys. The Census Bureau does more than just the census itself, so that cost might include other surveys. Even if it's more expensive than it should be, it's still a pretty good deal. Wikipedia says the census determines how $400 billion a year in government spending is allocated. It's not sourced, but that seems plausible. The 2010 census cost $15 billion dollars [2] in total, so that's less than 1 percent. [0]: https://www.census.gov/history/www/faqs/agency_history_faqs/how_many_census_takers_are_needed_to_conduct_the_census.html https://www.census.gov/history/www/faqs/agency_history_faqs/... [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau#Handheld_computers_.28HHC.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau#Ha... [2]: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/01/13/Complying-with-Old-Rules-Raises-Costs http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/01/13/Complying-... Edit: fix formatting