American Community Survey

This survey from the U.S. Census Bureau has replaced the decennial census "long-form" to provide more current estimates for education, occupation and other socioeconomic characteristics.

Get the Data

Access all of the data via data.census.gov.
Anywhere USA Profile (StatsAmerica)
ACS Circular Area Profiles (Missouri Census Data Center)

Find out when to use 1-year vs. 5-year estimates. For those who want more detail on the methods used to collect the data and insights on margins of error, use of small area data and other topics, your best bet is the ACS website.

Margins of Error and Statistical Significance

Statistical Testing Tool: This tool from the U.S. Censsu Bureau provides an easy way to make sure differences are statistically significant.
Online ACS Calculator: This tool from Cornell University can test for significance or compute a value from 2 existing values (e.g., a percentage of total)
ACS Statistics Calculator: This spreadsheet from the State Data Center Clearinghouse makes it easier to calculate margins of error and statistical significance from ACS estimates.
The Search for Significance: A Crash Course in Statistical Significance: A brief tutorial about margins of error and statistical significance and how they relate to the ACS (InContext: Nov-Dec 2008).

Fast Facts on the ACS Estimates

1-Year Estimates

The 2022 ACS 1-year estimates are based on data collected between January 2022 and December 2022.

Published for selected geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or greater
Represent the average characteristics over calendar year
Have smaller sample size than the 5-year estimates
Are more current than the 5-year estimates

5-Year Estimates

The 2018-2022 ACS 5-year estimates are based on data collected between January 2018 and December 2022.

Published for small geographic areas
Represent the average characteristics over the 5-year period of time
Have larger sample size than the 1-year estimates
Are less current than the 1-year estimates

Comparing to Prior Census Data

The 5-year estimates (and the other years from ACS) are not always comparable to the long-form data from previous censuses. Here are some tools to help find comparable tables between the ACS and decennial data.