The data from the 2009 American Housing Survey and the documentation about the survey are available on this page. We have the instrument items booklets, which are human-readable documents listing all of the items in the survey instruments, and we have a runnable copy of the 2009 computerized interviewing instrument itself. If you download and install this on your Windows-capable computer, you can step through an AHS interview just as a Census Field Representative would conduct it.
2009 National AHS data SAS version (Download as *.exe, 16 MB or *.zip, 15.2 MB)
Download the 2009 National AHS data ASCII version (Download as *.exe, 22.6 MB or *.zip, 25.1 MB)
The file flattener program is a SAS routine that extracts the eight individual SAS files from the transport dataset and produces a single SAS file, with one record per housing unit. Observations on persons, commuting, recent mover groups, and alterations & repair projects are transformed into numbered groups of variables in the housing unit record. While this file structure requires about twice as much disk space as the individual files, some users find it easier to use.
2009 national survey topcode file (*.xls, 45 KB)
Topcodes and bottom codes are used in the AHS public use file in order to maintain confidentiality. Unusually high (and, in a few cases, low) values in the AHS dataset are replaced with maximum (or minimum) values, called top (or bottom) codes. This MS-Excel spreadsheet documents these values for the affected variables.
Download the Descriptive Statistics of 2009 AHS Variables (Download as *.exe, 922 KB or *.zip, 271 KB)
2009 Worst case needs data (Download as *.zip, 109 KB)
Please download the Codebook for the American Housing Survey; Public Use File: 1997 and later (*.pdf, 2.14 MB).
2009 Instrument Items Booklet (*.pdf, 790 KB): The instrument items booklet is a PDF document that lists all the questions and responses in the AHS survey instrument. It was prepared for the Office of Management and Budget as part of the survey clearance process. This is the closest equivalent to a paper version of the AHS questionnaire.
Spanish Language Instrument Items Booklet (*.pdf, 1.08 MB)
Reinterview Items Booklet for the AHS 2009 National and Metro Surveys (*.pdf, 122 KB)
2009 Table Specifications (*zip, 150 KB): This zip archive contains the SAS code files used by the U.S. Census Bureau in producing its tabulations of the 2009 national American Housing Survey (AHS), which can be found at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/ahs/ahs09/ahs09.html. These files are provided so that experienced data users can match the Census specifications when producing their own tabulations using the AHS public use file (PUF).
2009 AHS Survey Instrument Software (*.zip, 20.4 MB): This zip file contains all the files needed for a runnable "demo" version of the national AHS survey instrument. Users can enter responses and step through the instrument to simulate the flow of questions in an actual AHS interview. This version of the software does not save any data; it merely demonstrates the instrument. It is intended to run on Microsoft Windows-based computers.
DISCLAIMER: The application is distributed for review purposes only, and no production data collection is permitted. By downloading the software, users agree to these terms. Further, this software is being provided "as is." Neither the Census Bureau nor the software publisher will provide any support for software downloaded from this web site.
2009 AHS New Orleans Survey Instrument (*.zip, 18 MB) (Posted on 1/28/2010): This zip file contains all the files needed for a runnable "demo" version of the New Orleans AHS survey instrument. This instrument includes the special questions about hurricane recovery asked only in the New Orleans metropolitan survey. Users can enter responses and step through the instrument to simulate the flow of questions in an actual AHS interview. This version of the software does not save any data; it merely demonstrates the instrument. It is intended to run on Microsoft Windows-based computers.
DISCLAIMER: The application is distributed for review purposes only, and no production data collection is permitted. By downloading the software, users agree to these terms. Further, this software is being provided "as is." Neither the Census Bureau nor the software publisher will provide any support for software downloaded from this web site.
Metropolitan Supplement Comparer Files (*zip, 787 KB): The 2009 national American Housing Survey (AHS) included special supplementary samples of housing units in five metropolitan areas: Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York, and Northern New Jersey. The data collected in these supplementary samples are included in the national AHS public use file (PUF). As part of the quality control process, Econometrica, Inc., under contract with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), produced a set of spreadsheets to compare standard tabulations of the 2009 data with the 2003 AHS (the previous survey in which supplementary samples were included). This zip archive contains the comparison files, to help data analysts understand the major changes between these data files.
| Changes to the 2009 National American Housing Survey |
ITEMS ADDED
Households with Disabled Persons. Questions were added to determine the disability status of household members.OTHER
Public Use File. The Ratio Verification (RATIOV) file returns for 2009. The file contains data on the verification of income to cost when the ratio of income to cost is outside of certain tolerances. (Note: This file was present from the 1998 AHS metro sample to the 2005 national sample. This file is not present in 1997 or in 2007.)Supplemental Sample Size for Each of the Five AHS-National-Based Metropolitan Areas. A supplemental sample of housing units was selected in five large metropolitan areas (Chicago, Detroit, New York, Northern New Jersey, and Philadelphia). This sample was combined with the existing sample in these areas in order to produce metropolitan level estimates. Most of this sample was interviewed for the first time in 2009. The sample size for each area is shown below.
| Metropolitan Area | Basic Sample | Supplemental Sample | Total Sample Size |
Chicago, IL |
1,461 |
1,097 |
2,558 |
Detroit, MI |
834 |
1,747 |
2,581 |
New York, NY |
2,158 |
426 |
2,584 |
Northern New Jersey, NJ |
1,209 |
1,348 |
2,557 |
Philadelphia, PA |
909 |
1,696 |
2,605 |
