When should you use income and poverty estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS)?
United States - Use the CPS
For national figures, we recommend using data from the CPS — the source
of the official national estimates of poverty as designated by the Office of
Management and Budget. It is also the source for widely used estimates of income.
States - Use the ACS
To compare states with each other, we recommend using the ACS. The CPS has value
as a means of examining historical trends by state. Some of the differences
between the two sources of data (CPS and ACS) are the length and detail of questions,
sample size, geography and reference period.
Local Areas - Use the ACS
ACS single-year estimates are available for nearly 7,000 areas, including all
congressional districts, and counties, cities and American Indian and Alaska
Native areas of 65,000 population or more.
| Area Comparison | CPS | ACS |
|---|---|---|
| United States | X | |
| State | X use for historical trend analysis |
X |
| United States with state | X | |
| United States with state/metropolitan area/county/place |
X | |
| State with metropolitan area/county/place |
X | |
| American Indian and Alaska Native areas | X | |
| Congressional districts | X | |
| Metropolitan area with county/place |
X | |
| County with place | X | |
| Places (cities) | X |
