Your Tax Dollars At Work – Census edition

So today I had a nice older man ring my doorbell.  He’s employed by the census bureau and was just preparing for next year’s census.  He confirmed the house number (yup, same as what that metal thing by the door says) and my zip code (yup, same as the rest of the street and the whole town for that matter).  He gave me a slip of paper letting me know info given to a census taker is confidential.  That was it, and he was on his way to the next house. 

Surely there is a better and less expensive way to assemble this vital information.