American Community Survey Data Products Updated February 2013

Overview What do I need to know before using ACS estimates and data products? What data products are available? How do I access ACS data products? 2

Estimates ACS produces estimates ACS estimates are not counts of the population or housing Population counts are produced from the decennial census –Population Estimates Program (PEP) updates counts throughout the decade. 3

Period Estimates ACS estimates are period estimates Period estimates describe the average characteristics over a specific time period Contrast with point-in-time estimates that describe characteristics as of a specific date 4

Sampling Error The uncertainty associated with an estimate that is based on data gathered from a sample of the population rather than the full population Margin of error (MOE) measures the precision of an estimate at a given level of confidence MOEs at the 90% confidence level for all published ACS estimates 5

Overview What do I need to know before using ACS estimates and data products? What data products are available? How do I access ACS data products? 6

ACS Data Products Profiles –Data Profiles –Narrative Profiles –Comparison Profiles –Selected Population Profiles Tables –Detailed Tables and Collapsed Tables –Subject Tables –Ranking Tables –Geographic Comparison Tables Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) Files Summary Files 7

Data Profiles 8

Narrative Profiles 9

Comparison Profiles 10

Selected Population Profiles 11

Selected Population Profiles 12

Detailed Tables Examples B01001A-I: Sex by Age by Race and Hispanic Origin B08134: Means of Transportation to Work by Travel Time to Work B25018: Median Number of Rooms B14001: School Enrollment by Level of School for the Population 3 Years and Over B17001: Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months by Sex and Age 13

Detailed Tables Table Number Table Name Universe Data Source Margin of Error 14

Detailed Tables – Collapsed Version 15

Detailed Tables for Quality Measures 16

Subject Table List 17

Subject Tables 18

Ranking Tables 19

Geographic Comparison Tables 20

Public Use Microdata Sample 21

ACS Summary File 22

Overview What do I need to know before using ACS estimates and data products? What data products are available? How do I access ACS data products? 23

U.S. Census Bureau Home Page 24

American FactFinder 25

ACS Data Products 26

Select Your Data Product 27

Select Your Geography 28

Selecting a State 29

Select the Topic of Interest 30

Table B

Help from American FactFinder 32

ACS FTP Site 33

DataFerrett 34

DataFerrett Tutorials 35

Additional ACS Resources ACS website (census.gov/acs) American FactFinder (factfinder2.census.gov) QuickFacts (quickfacts.census.gov) DataFerrett (dataferrett.census.gov) FAQs ( 36

Final Thoughts The U.S. Census Bureau measures the nations People, Places and Economy Census Bureau statistics are how America knows what America needs The Census Bureau is the leading source of quality, timely and relevant information about our nations people and economy 37

Contact Information Subscribe to Updates Visit the ACS/PRCS website: Contact by Telephone: Submit a Question: 38