View the available subjects, detailed codes for variables, changes related to each release, an explanation of sample design, methodology, and accuracy, and files to determine if you are using weights correctly for the American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files. These documents are organized by data year.
Supporting data for the documentation below is available on the PUMS Data page.
Important information about 2018 geography and variable changes, as well as guidance for novice ACS PUMS files users.
A list of topics included in each of the housing and population record files
Includes variables available for each PUMS release and how each variable is coded
Detailed codes for variables that contain a large number of coded responses, such as ancestry and occupation
List of variables with responses exceeding a state-specific value that are replaced with a predetermined value.
A basic explanation of the sample design, estimation methodology, and accuracy of the data.
Note that some of these estimates may be different from the estimates for the same characteristics published in data.census.gov. For an explanation of these differences, see the Accuracy of the PUMS above.