The American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey that provides data about communities in the United States with data collected from a sample of the Unites States, rather than the whole population. The 2010 Census shows the number of people who live in the United States and the ACS shows how people live in the United States. This data was previously collected in the long form portion of the decennial census, but was discontinued in 2010. The types of data collected in the ACS are:
| Basic Demographics |
Social Characteristics |
Economic Characteristics |
Housing Characteristics |
| Age |
Ancestry |
Class of Worker |
Food Stamps/SNAP |
| Sex |
Citizenship Status |
Employment Status |
House Heating Fuel |
| Hispanic or Latino Origin |
Disability Status |
Health Insurance Coverage |
Kitchen Facilities |
| Race |
Educational Attainment |
Income and Earnings |
Owner Statistics |
| Relationship |
Fertility |
Industry |
Plumbing Facilities |
| |
Field of Degree |
Journey to Work |
Renter Statistics |
| |
Grandparents as Caregivers |
Occupation |
Rooms and Bedrooms |
| |
Language |
Poverty |
Telephone Service Available |
| |
Marital Status and Marital History |
Work Status |
Tenure |
| |
Place of Birth |
|
Units in Structure |
| |
School Enrollment |
|
Value of Home |
| |
Residence 1 Year Ago/Migration |
|
Vehicles Available |
| |
Veterans |
|
Year Householder Moved Into Unit |
| |
Year of Entry |
|
Year Structure Built |
The ACS collects and releases data by the calendar year for geographic areas that meet certain population thresholds. ACS 1-, 3-, and 5-year estimates are period estimates, which means they represent the characteristics of the population over a data collection period of 12, 36, or 60 months. The population thresholds for data collection and dissemination are presented in the chart below.
| Data collected between: |
Data pooled to produce: |
Data published for areas with: |
| January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010 |
2010 ACS 1-year estimates |
Populations of 65,000+ |
| January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010 |
2008-2010 ACS 3-year estimates |
Populations of 20,000+ |
| January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2010 |
2006-2010 ACS 5-year estimates |
Populations of almost any size |
This data can be obtained from the US Census Bureau’s data extraction tool American Fact Finder. When comparing estimates for different areas, use the same period length for each estimate. Estimates from overlapping years should not be compared.
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