The American community survey.

Abstract

This article provides information on the benefits of the American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is slotted to replace the decennial census long form by collecting essentially the same information throughout the decade rather than once every 10 years. With updated information researchers will be able to track changes over time and measure relative differences among population groups and areas. The basic design of the survey is self-enumeration through mail-out and mail-back operation in every county to a representative sample of about 3 million addresses across the country. Effective final response rates for the ACS have been about 97%. The ACS field staff work full-time in their areas and can explain to local communities how the ACS benefits them. Because of this the ACS has not encountered the kind of resistance from respondents that the census long form has. The Census Bureau has been developing the ACS since 1996 when it was tested in just four sites. The ACS has since expanded to 31 diverse sites collecting data that can be compared with Census 2000 results. These comparisons are laying the groundwork for the transition from the long form to the ACS. The plan is to fully implement the survey in 2003 and continue data collection every year thereafter.