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American Community Survey - Population Bulletin

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An overview of the American Community Survey (ACS) and the new opportunities and challenges it offers, by Mark Mather, Kerri L. Rivers, and Linda A. Jacobsen. The ACS data will provide, for the first time, a continual stream of updated information for states and local areas, and may revolutionize the way federal, state, local and tribal governments plan, administer, and evaluate their programs.

Evaluation of Poverty Estimates: A Comparison of the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey

Download: Evaluation of Poverty Estimates: A Comparison of the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey [PDF 72K]

Alemayehu Bishaw and Sharon Stern Poverty and Health Statistics Branch Housing and Household Economic Staff Division June 15, 2006 Introduction This report is one in a series of reports that compares data from the American Community Survey (ACS) with data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The data analysis in this report focuses on comparisons of national estimates of poverty between the 2003 ACS and the 2004 CPS ASEC (income year 2003). This analysis also compares state level estimates from the 2003 ACS with 2-year average estimates from CPS ASEC. The report looks for differences that are both statistically and substantively different, and for those found, looks for possible explanations. Since poverty is an income-based measure, one of the purposes of this report is to examine methodological differences in the collection of income data between the two surveys.