American Community Survey

The ACS question on race was revised in 2008 to make it consistent with the Census 2010 race question. For more information, see the "questionnaire changes document" [PDF 2.2MB]. The reporting of "Other Asian" groups (e.g., Pakistani), "Other Pacific Islander" groups (e.g., Fijian), and the reporting of "White"responses increased at the national level, and the reporting of "Some Other Race" responses decreased at the national level. The change in estimates from 2007 to 2008 may be due to several factors including questionnaire changes, population controls, and methodological changes to the population estimates, and therefore should be used with caution. For more information about the changes in the estimates, go here.

The ACS question on Hispanic origin was revised in 2008 to make it consistent with the Census 2010 Hispanic origin question. For more information, see the "questionnaire changes document" [PDF 2.2MB]. The reporting of specific Hispanic groups (e.g., Colombian, Dominican, Spaniard, etc.) increased at the national level. The change in estimates from 2007 to 2008 may be due to several factors including questionnaire changes, population controls, and methodological changes to the population estimates, and therefore should be used with caution. For more information about the changes in the estimates, go here.

Beginning with the 2008 ACS 1-year data products, people who reported Irish-Scotch ancestry were classified under "Other groups", whereas in the 2007 ACS and earlier they were classified as Scotch-Irish. Due to this classification change, the Scotch-Irish category decreased from 2007-2008.

Modest changes were made in 2009 to the region and country groupings. Specifically, Macau (code 225) is now included under the definition of China, and Jan Mayen (code 121) and Svalbard (code 135) are included under the definition of Norway, please see 2009 ACS Code List.

Beginning with the 2008 ACS, the migration section of the questionnaire was expanded to collect street address information for residence 1 year ago. The additional detail improves the accuracy of coding and updating residence 1 year ago to current geographical boundaries, which may affect the estimates for movers within the same city/town and movers from principal cities. Areas with recent boundary changes, vague boundaries, or duplicate names are most likely affected. For more information see the report titled Report P.3: Evaluation Report Covering Residence 1 Year Ago (Migration).

The "Child" and "In-law" categories were expanded in the 2008 ACS questionnaire. Use caution when comparing these categories between the 2007 ACS 1-year and 2008 ACS 1-year. See the "Changes in the Relationship Categories Between 2007 and 2008" for more information on category changes and comparisons. Changes in the questionnaire format and data capture procedures between 2007 and 2008 have resulted in changes in the total number of same-sex unmarried partners in 2008. The Census Bureau believes the change is due to reports of same sex spouses, which are changed to unmarried partner in the editing process. For more information about same-sex unmarried partners, go here.

Changes in the questionnaire format and data capture procedures between the 2007 and 2008 ACS have resulted in changes in the number of reported same-sex spouses and hence the total number of same-sex unmarried partners in 2008. All comparisons should be made with caution due to these formatting and data capture changes. For more information about same-sex unmarried partners, go here.

The 2009 edit specifications incorporated changes to improve the identification of married-couple subfamilies with children and single-parent subfamilies. The 2009 data show an increase in these family types.

New questions were added to the 2008 ACS CATI/CAPI instrument. Respondents who received a high school diploma, GED or equivalent were also asked if they had completed any college credit. Therefore, data users may notice a decrease in the number of high school graduates relative to previous years because those people are now being captured in the "Some college credit , but less than 1 year of college credit" or "1 or more years of college credit, no degree" categories. For more information see the report titled Report P.2.b: Evaluation Report Covering Educational Attainment [PDF 330KB].

Estimates of Spanish speaking Changes to collection of data on Hispanic origin may have affected some language characteristics. The observed increase in the native Hispanic population speaking English "very well" is larger than anticipated and should be interpreted with caution. In some cases the overall English language ability in the population may have been affected. See the section on Hispanic Origin (03) above for more information. For more information about the changes in the estimates, open the attached pdf.

The 2008 ACS disability questions are different from the 2007 and prior ACS disability questions, thus comparisons cannot be made. For information about definitions of disability in the ACS, Census 2000 and other Census Bureau surveys,visit the Census Bureau's disability site.

The wording of the food stamp question was revised in the 2008 ACS to ask respondents if they received "food stamps or a food stamp benefit card". Data users may see an increase in food stamp recipiency from the 2007 ACS 1-year estimates to the 2008 ACS 1-year estimates as a result of the questionnaire change. For more detailed information, see the "Evaluation Report Covering Receipt of Food Stamps" [PDF 4.7MB].

The Census Bureau introduced an improved sequence of labor force questions in the 2008 ACS questionnaire. Accordingly, we recommend using caution when making labor force data comparisons from 2008 or later with data from prior years. For more information on these questions and their evaluation in the 2006 ACS Content Test, see the "Evaluation Report Covering Employment Status" [PDF 1.04MB] and the "Evaluation Report Covering Weeks Worked" [PDF 504KB]. Additional information can also be found on the at Labor Force Statistics website.

The 2008 ACS median earnings Class of Worker tables combine "Unpaid family workers" with "Self-employed in own not incorporated business workers," while 2007 ACS tables list these categories separately.

The 2007 ACS 1-year industry data are coded using the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) while the 2008 ACS 1-year industry data are coded using the NAICS 2007. Codes and descriptions in the Information sector changed: "Broadcasting and telecommunications" and "Internet publishing and internet service providers" were deleted and "Broadcasting, internet publishing, and telecommunications services" was added.

Caution should be used when comparing data for Bedrooms between the 2007 and 2008 ACS. Changes made to the 2008 ACS Bedrooms question involving the wording as well as the response option resulted in a noticeable increase in the "No bedroom" category and a decrease in the "1 bedroom" to "3 bedrooms" categories. For more detailed information about these changes, see the Bedrooms section of the "Subject Definitions" [PDF 463KB].

Caution should be used when comparing data for Kitchen Facilities in certain areas between the 2007 and 2008 ACS. Changes made to the 2008 ACS question wording and translation to the Spanish questionnaire resulted in an inconsistency in the data. For more detailed information about these changes, see the Kitchen facilities section of the"Subject Definitions" [PDF 463KB].

Caution should be used when comparing data for Telephone Service Availability between the 2007 ACS and the 2008 ACS. Changes made to the 2008 ACS Telephone Service Availability question involving the structure of the question as well as including an instruction to include cell phones resulted in a noticeable increase in respondents answering "yes" to the question. For more detailed information about these changes, see the Telephone Service Available section of the "Subject Definitions" [PDF 463KB].

Caution should be used when comparing data for Occupants per Room between the 2007 and 2008 ACS. Changes made to the 2008 ACS Rooms question involving the wording as well as the response option resulted in a noticeable increase in the "1 room" category and a decrease in the "2 rooms" to "6 rooms" categories. For more detailed information about these changes, see the Rooms section of the "Subject Definitions" [PDF 463KB].

Estimates for the U.S. Caution should be used when comparing data for Plumbing Facilities in certain areas between the 2007 and 2008 ACS. Changes made to the 2008 ACS question wording and translation to the Spanish questionnaire resulted in an inconsistency in the data. For more detailed information about these changes, see the Plumbing facilities section of the "Subject Definitions" [PDF 463KB].

Changes made to the value question between the 2007 and 2008 ACS may result in an inconsistency in the value distribution for some areas. In 2008, the response option for the value question was a write-in. In 2007 and previous years, the value question included categorical response options with a write-in for values over $250,000. The presentation of the data is consistent between 2007 and 2008. For more information about this questionnaire change, see the "Evaluation Report Covering Property Value" [PDF 4.9MB].

The question was not asked in 2007 ACS. For more information about health insurance questions in the ACS and other Census Bureau surveys, visit the Health Insurance website.