American Community Survey (ACS)
The U.S. Census Bureau is replacing the Census Long Form for 2010 with a continuous survey called the American Community Survey. With the ACS, the Census Bureau hops to:
- Provide federal, state, and1 local governments an information base for the administration and evaluation of government programs;
- Improve the 2010 Census; and
- Provide data users with timely demographic, housing, social, and economic data updated every year that ban be compared across states, communities, and population groups.
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Articles and Presentations
Census Bureau Presentation at the 2004 Census State Data Center National Conference September 2004
Census Bureau Evaluation Studies on ACS June 2004
Seasonality of Transportation Data (Also available in Adobe PDF format - 214 KB) July 2004
Analysis of Project Flow and Use of RDC Services for the ACS Research (Also available in Adobe PDF format - 182 KB)
The Need and Relevance of Transportation Questions in ACS March 2001
- Frequently Asked Questions (Developed by San Diego Association of Governments) April 2005
ACS Products
Training
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Challenging the Census Bureau Population Estimates: The Census Bureau County Estimates are used as controls for weighting the American Community Survey samples. Therefore, the ACS results are highly reliant on reasonable population estimates. The Census Bureau has a system in place to challenge the estimates.
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CNSTAT project: Using the American Community Survey: Benefits and Challenges
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Ken Bryson's (US Census Bureau) overview on Accessing Data from the American Factfinder (Macromedia Format)
Brooking's Institution: Tracking Who We Are and Where We Are Going: Using the American Community Survey
Cynthia Taueber: "ACS data for community planning" http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/dosearch
The Census Bureau is developing a guidebook on ACS. This guidebook should be available in Fall 2005.
- The NCHRP 8-48 "Using American Community Service Data for Transportation Planning" project will also provide some guidance for transprotation planners on the use of ACS data.
