1 Commuting and Migration Data Products from the American Community Survey Journey-to-Work and Migration Statistics Branch U.S. Census Bureau State Data Center Steering Committee Meeting, Feb. 2011

Geographically Dependent Characteristics: “Flows” 2 Commuting Migration

Flow Data in the ACS The ACS asks about: - Place of work - Residence 1 year ago Each question tells a story about 2 geographies AFF currently cannot support flow products The Challenge - Disseminating useful and accessible flow data that protects the confidentiality of respondents 3

Past Efforts to Present Flow Data Large matrices that provide counts linking origins and destinations –Number of characteristics limited to protect confidentiality –Tables are cumbersome and difficult for AFF to accommodate  Tables showing data for only one end of the flow –More characteristics available –Limited utility due to less geographic specificity about other end of flow 4

Census Bureau’s Internal Flows Working Group New internal group formed to create new and modified flow products to become part of standard production Focus on data content and dissemination method Considerations for new product development: User needs, DRB rules, content of existing products (e.g., EEO special tab) 5

Proposed Approach for Presenting Flows: Alternate Characteristics across Years Release new set of flow data each year based on 5-year ACS data (county-to-county level) Initial release will only include counts Each subsequent annual release within a 5-year period to include flows crossed with a small number of characteristics that vary by year Achieve a set of flows by multiple characteristics over the course of 5 years 6

For Example: Year 1: Basic count of county-level worker flows Year 2: Worker flows by age and sex (separately) Year 3: Workers flows by race and Hispanic origin Year 4: Worker flows by means of transportation Year 5: Worker flows by Industry and Occupation 7

We Want Your Feedback Which characteristics are most important to flow data? Among existing ACS migration and place of work tables on AFF, which are least useful? How do you want to obtain the data? –Geo-IDs such as FIPS codes included in table? –Utility of maps to accompany data tables? 8

Home-to-Work Flow Products 9

POW Flows and Metro/Micro Area Definitions Place of Work flows are used to support delineation of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas for OMB Metro and Micro areas are made up of a county with a large population nucleus and adjacent counties that have a high degree of integration with that nucleus Integration among counties is, in part, measured by county-to-county commuter flows 10

POW Flows and Metro/Micro Areas cont. County-to-county home-to-work flows based on 5- year ACS will be released to support metro area definitions Released every 5 years with no characteristics 2000 Census County-to-county home-to-work flows available at: 11

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American Community Survey Special EEO Tabulation Special Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Tabulation Home-to-work flows by industry/occupation and several demographic characteristics Released in late 2012 via AFF Subject Matter Variables: detailed occupation categories, race and ethnicity, citizenship, sex, educational attainment, older age groups, younger age groups, industry and earnings 13

American Community Survey Special EEO Tabulation Types of tabulations: –worksite tabulations –workflow tabulations for a central worksite showing the flow to that worksite of workers from up to nine individual counties, places, or balance of counties –residence tabulations Geographies: –nation, states, CBSAs, counties, county sets, and places 14

LED/OnTheMap Local Employment Dynamics (LED) Home-to-work flows using Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages records OnTheMap allows users to map small-area job counts and travel patterns, including home-to- work flows. 15

Census Transportation Planning Products (CTPP) 16

What is the CTPP? A set of special tabulations from the American Community Survey tailored for the data needs of transportation planners Produced by the Census Bureau, sponsored and owned by American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) 3-Year Census Transportation Planning Products

3-year CTPP Data Product Available Now Based on ACS 2006, 2007, 2008 Available for areas of 20,000 population or greater

The 3-year CTPP Design Based on 2000 Geography MSA – EACH Principal City Metropolitan Statistical Area POW PUMA PUMA Place MCD County Nation (US Total) Product Structure 3-Parts Part 1- Place of Residence Part 2- Place of Work Part 3- Flows between Home and Work State Product documentation available at:

Key CTPP Contacts Penelope Weinberger AASHTO CTPP Program Manager

Forthcoming Commuting Report “Commuting in the United States: 2009” More information on commuting special products can be found at: 21

Overview of ACS-Based Migration Products 22

Decennial Census Products Census 2000 Migration Data DVD County-to-County Tables: 1 general table– no restrictions 19 single characteristic tables – rounding 22 multiple characteristic tables - rounding & restricted to flows of 3 or more unweighted cases 23

ACS Migration Flow Products ACS State-to-State Migration Flow Tables Published since 2005 Shows state of current residence by state of residence 1 year ago (no characteristics) NOT a part of standard products 24

2008 and state-to-state migration tables now available: /socdemo/state-to-state.html

Possible Future 5-Year Migration Products *County-to-County migration flows ( ) *limited characteristics May also produce: Place-to-Place MCD-MCD (12 states) MCD-to-County County-to-MCD CBSA-to-CBSA Metro Area-to-Metro Area 26

Standard Migration Products in AFF Tables with In-Migration by Characteristics Since 2004 ACS All publishable geographies Tables with Out-Migration by Characteristics Since 2007 ACS Limited geographies 27

Crossed for AFF Migration Tables Age Sex Race/Hispanic Origin Citizenship Marital Status Educational Attainment Individual Income Poverty Status Tenure 28

Issues Smaller sample size Fewer movers (residence 1 year ago vs. 5 years ago question) Larger margin of errors Periodicity – new data each year Disclosure issues Overlapping datasets More standard data products 50 case limit on residence 1 year ago tables Not part of basic production 29

Similar Problem: Journey to Work Census Transportation Planning Products –Previously created tables of characteristics, and Home to Work Flows by characteristics from decennial data –ACS 3-year CTPP just released – # of crosses for flows minimized to 5 variables due to disclosure avoidance requirements –Disclosure issues will still be an issue for an ACS 5-year CTPP product being planned Current remedy – Synthetic Data Approach 30

Forthcoming Migration Report and other products “ Geographic Mobility: ” More information on migration special products can be found at: migrate.html 31

U.S. Census Bureau: Journey-to-Work & Migration Statistics Branch Contact: Alison Fields Phone: