American Community Survey: Release Updates
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a survey administered by the Census Bureau covering topics such as social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics. The ACS surveys around 3.5 million addresses and informs over $675 billion of federal government spending each year. Due to Covid-19, outreach and participation significantly decreased in 2020, and the data collected did not meet quality standards for the 2020 1-year estimates. As such, the Census Bureau plans to release 2020 1-year experimental estimates in place of the regular tables. This post will cover key points about the ACS, the data collection process, and the planned experimental estimates. Information about the 2020 Decennial Census release schedule can be found here.
Comparing ACS and Census Data
The ACS and decennial census both collect data about our population, but the two surveys are quite different.
Purpose: ACS provides sample estimates. The decennial census provides official counts.
Data Collected: ACS collects detailed social, economic, housing, and demographic data. The decennial census collects basic demographics.
Products: ACS produces population and housing characteristics. The decennial census produces population and housing totals.
Timespan: ACS data is produced every year. The decennial census data is produced every ten years.
Other: ACS data reflects a period of time. The decennial census data reflects a point in time.
Data Collection Process and COVID-19 Challenges
Data for the ACS is continuously collected throughout the year through several methods. First, respondents are invited to complete the survey through the internet, followed by physical mail if no response is received, and finally through a personal visit if necessary. The pandemic significantly impacted outreach in 2020—mail operations and personal visits were suspended from March through June, and internet responses were only available to a subset of respondents due to reduced mailings.
Impact of Data Collection Challenges Due to COVID-19
Given the limitations in data collection for the 2020 ACS and the inability to fully utilize all modes of outreach, the Census Bureau was unable to collect information from certain segments of the population. This led to the sample population being unrepresentative of the full population, resulting in nonresponse bias. For example, those who did not respond to the ACS were likely to have lower income, lower education, and were less likely to own their home. Standard methods for mitigating nonresponse bias were insufficient for 2020 data, and thus, the Census Bureau decided that the data collected did not meet quality standards for the 2020 ACS 1-year estimates.
Planned Product Releases
Standard 2020 ACS 1-year data products will not be released as the data do not meet the Census Bureau’s statistical quality standards. However, several experimental products will be released, including the following:
Limited set of tables using experimental weights for certain geographic areas
Research paper explaining methodology for experimental products
Public Use Microdata Sample File containing experimental weights
Standard 2020 ACS 5-year data products will be released using the normal methodology, as the impact of data collection challenges in 2020 is much lower over a 5-year period. A thorough data review will be conducted to assess the quality of the 5-year data products. The 2020 ACS release schedule includes the complete timeline with newly planned release dates, and the 2020 ACS 1-Year Estimates: What You Need to Know document provides information discussed in this post using a simple flow chart.
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