Background
CEPR creates consistent partial extracts of the U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) for in-house use. Download the data, or view the underlying programs and documentation for the extracts.
About the ACS
The ACS is an ongoing statistical survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 1995, the Census began changing the means of obtaining the demographic, housing, social, and economic information previously only contained in the long form decennial census to the ACS. The ACS sends surveys to approximately 3 million housing units and group quarters in the U.S. annually. Data are primarily collected by mail, with Census telephone and personal visit follow-up. The survey generates data to help determine state and federal fund distribution by collecting information on: age, sex, race, relationships, health insurance, disabilities, education, etc.
Getting Started
To use CEPR’s ACS Uniform Data Extracts, you should first do a few of things. Use the Census documentation to get a sense of the underlying variables and data source. Then, take a look at the programs to learn how we construct our ACS Uniform Data Extracts and how to most efficiently make use of them. Details about common issues can also be found on our FAQ page. Finally, see our page of publications for a snapshot of what is possible with our ACS extracts and what others have done. Please feel free to contact us at ceprdata [at] cepr [dot] net if you have questions or comments.