Mariam, in Congressman Underwood's office, needs updated information about the congressman's constituents with the latest congressional district boundaries. She would also like to post this information on the congressman's website to share with interested parties.
American Community Survey
Which Data Tool Should I Use?
Unfamiliar with the many ways you can obtain statistics from the American Community Survey? Learn more about the tools available to help you access current social, economic, housing, and demographic statistics for the nation's communities.
Congressional Staffer
Recommendation: My Congressional District
Learn more about My Congressional District and try the tool here
Why this tool may be right for you:
- It contains statistics for every district.
- It includes statistics on popular topics such as education, housing, jobs, and more.
- The results page can be embedded on your website.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- The geography selection is limited to congressional districts.
- It contains only a subset of all ACS topics.
Tip: For more geographies or topics, try Subject Tables, Data Profiles, or other tools below.
Try My Congressional District now!
Mayor
Mayor Garcia is looking for key facts about the people and businesses in her town before heading to the statewide conference of mayors. She wants to be able to quickly compare facts from her town to other towns in her state.
Recommendation: QuickFacts
Find out why and link to the tool
Why this tool may be right for you:
- It's easy to use -- just choose your state, county, city, or town.
- It combines statistics from American Community Survey with other surveys to give a broader view of a particular geography in table, map, and chart formats.
- Results can be downloaded or shared.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- The geography selection is limited to state, county, city, and town.
- It contains only a subset of all ACS topics.
Tip: For more geographies or topics, try Subject Tables, Data Profiles or other tools below.
Go to QuickFacts!
Media
Tyson, a reporter for a local newspaper, is looking for a visual way to show trends in his community. He has some topics in mind that will be of interest to his readers, and hopes to be able to use available maps directly in his news reports.
Recommendation: Census Mapping Tools
Find out why and link to the tools
Why these tools may be right for you:
- Information is displayed visually.
- Tools are interactive and allow users to zoom in and select topics of interest.
- Most of the tools can be shared.
Why you may want to consider other tools:
- You prefer information in table format.
- Geography selection is limited to nation, state, metropolitan area, county, and tract (varies by tool).
- They contain only a subset of ACS topics.
Census Explorer - provides maps for a variety of ACS topics.
Census Flows Mapper - provides maps showing county-to-county migration flows maps by various ACS characteristics.
Census Language Mapper - provides maps showing language spoken at home and ability to speak English.
Emergency Planner
Chief Ryan, a county emergency planner, needs an easy way to access selected statistics, such as language spoken at home, age of housing units, and vehicle availability, to help his community recover from disasters, natural hazards, and weather events.
Recommendation: OnTheMap for Emergency Management
Learn more about OnTheMap for Emergency Management
Why this tool may be right for you:
- You need to access statistics for event areas in real time.
- It combines statistics from American Community Survey with other surveys to give a broader view of an event area.
- It has linkable maps and reports to share.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- Geography selection is limited to event areas.
- It contains only a subset of all ACS topics.
Business Owner
Faraj wants information about potential customers, similar businesses, and consumer spending to figure out where to locate his gas station. He's looking for key data that is relevant to small business owners, and he may decide to insert a report or map in a business plan for his investors.
Recommendation: Census Business Builder
Find out more about Census Business Builder
Why this tool may be right for you:
- You want to open a new business or expand an existing business.
- It combines statistics from the American Community Survey with economic data to guide your research.
- The interactive map allows you to select areas and compare to neighboring areas.
- Reports are downloadable and printable.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- Geography selection is limited to counties, places, ZIP codes, and tracts.
- It contains only a subset of all ACS topics.
Learn more about Census Business Builder!
Educator
Jocelyn wants information about a variety of topics, such as language spoken at home, disability, and age, to help figure out what kinds of services and staff they will need in her school district. She is also interested in seeing if these characteristics changed over time, and if these changes are statistically significant. Jocelyn wants this high-level information in separate fact sheets on social, economic, demographic, and housing characteristics for her area.
Recommendation: Data Profiles or Comparison Profiles (on American FactFinder)
Learn more about Data Profiles and Comparison Profiles
Why these tools may be right for you:
- They help novice users get acquainted with ACS data tables.
- They provide broad social, economic, housing, and demographic statistics for many levels of geography.
- The Comparison Profiles show yearly data side-by-side, indicating statistical significance between sets of estimates.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- Tables may not contain enough detail for your topics of interest.
- Comparison Profiles are only available for 1-year estimates.
- There is no block group data.
Link to Data Profiles/Comparison Profiles and choose your geography.
Veterans Coordinator
Carlos is interested in veterans, including veterans status, period of service, employment status, and educational attainment, to help his organization provide information on Veterans Affairs medical services and job training programs. He would like the information on his topic in one table with numbers and percentages.
Recommendation: Subject Tables (on American FactFinder)
Find out more about the Subject Tables
Why this tool may be right for you:
- Tables are available for most of the subjects in the ACS.
- It has more in-depth statistics on a particular subject than Data Profiles or Comparison Profiles.
- It provides estimates and percentages for many levels of geography.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- Not all topics have a corresponding Subject Table.
- It may not contain enough detail for your topics of interest (see Detailed Tables).
- It does not provide block group data (see Detailed Tables).
Browse available topics on our Subject Tables page. Use the search/filter box to find your topic quickly.
Market Analyst
Thomas wants in-depth information about topics such as income, educational attainment, and household size, for his report on where to locate a large retail store. He's looking for the most detailed information the ACS provides on these topics.
Recommendation: Detailed Tables (on American FactFinder)
Find out more about Detailed Tables
Why this tool may be right for you:
- It's the best source for the most comprehensive ACS tables.
- It covers all subjects in the ACS.
- Statistics are available for areas down to block group level.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- It may contain more detail than needed for your topic.
- It does not provide percentages (see Subject Tables above).
- You need block group level data prior to 2009-2013 ACS 5-year release. (If so, use the ACS Summary File)
Browse the subjects covered by Detailed Tables and get links to the tables on American FactFinder.
Health Administrator
Benjamin wants to create his own tables of interest using Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files, but he does not have access to statistical software. He needs a free tool to create custom tabulations to plan for health care needs in his state.
Recommendation: DataFerrett
Learn more about PUMS on DataFerrett
Why this tool may be right for you:
- You don't have access to statistical software.
- You need to create a custom table that is not available on American FactFinder.
- You want to download a subset of the variables or geographic areas available in the PUMS files.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- Your table of interest is already pretabulated in American FactFinder.
- You are interested in doing more complex statistical analysis.
- PUMS geography selection is limited to nation, region, division, state, and Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs).
Go to DataFerrett!
Regional Planner
Marisa wants to do regional planning analysis using Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files, and she has expertise using statistical software. Marisa is an advanced data user who is comfortable working with untabulated records to do research projects.
Recommendation: Public Use Microdata Sample files via FTP
Learn more about the FTP site
Why this tool may be right for you:
- You have access to statistical software to do analysis.
- You need to create a custom table that is not available on American FactFinder.
- You want the entire person or housing record per state or for the nation.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- Your table of interest is already pretabulated in American FactFinder.
- PUMS geography selection is limited to nation, region, division, state, and Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs).
Get the PUMS downloads and supporting information in the PUMS section.
Developer
Karen wants to create mobile apps and custom widgets for her customers across a variety of topics. She is an experienced programmer, but appreciates the support that can be found in a community of developers and a well-documented dataset.
Recommendation: API
Find out more about the Application Programming Interface
Why this tool may be right for you:
- You are a skilled programmer.
- You wish to create a data retrieval app for use on your own website or as a mobile app.
Why you may want to consider another tool:
- You just want to download data, not create an app.
- There are limited datasets available.
Learn more about the Census Bureau's API on the API Developers site.
