# Presentation: 530803

## American Community Survey:How to Access ACS Data Products

**Notes:**
This presentation provides detailed instructions about how to access ACS data products on American FactFinder.

It will focus on the 2004 ACS data products.  Much of what you learn in this presentation will be applicable to data products released from the 2005 and later ACS.

In 2005, the release of the first “wave” of 2004 ACS data products was scheduled to coincide with the press conference at which the Current Population Survey (CPS) income, poverty, and health insurance data were released on August 30, 2005.  A second wave of 2004 ACS data products was released on November 17, 2005.  The third wave of 2004 ACS data products was released on January 26, 2006.  It is expected that future releases of ACS data will follow a similar phased approach.

## Slide 2

**Notes:**
	The ACS website has a Guide to the New ACS Data Products.  It has information that will be useful to both novice and experienced ACS data users.

	For data users who already have experience using the ACS Detailed Tables, it will be helpful to look at New Base Table ID’s, and new and changed tables.

	Also, New Ranking Tables and New Subject Tables will provide valuable information for the experienced ACS data user.

	Another tool you may find helpful is the ACS 2004 Base Table Mapping List.  This tool will be explained more on a later slide.

## Slide 3

**Notes:**
ACS data are on American FactFinder.  

The redesigned FactFinder main page was released on January 13, 2006.  The new main page includes links to many different resources.

There are three different ways to access ACS data from the FactFinder main page.  In Section 1 of the ACS Data User Training Guide one access method is shown. The RED arrow on this slide points to another of the ACS data links.  Under the main heading Getting Detailed Data, there is an American Community Survey section.  If you click get data, the ACS Data Sets page appears.  The next slide shows what that page looks like.

## Slide 4

**Notes:**
The most recent ACS data set is pre-selected.  A brief description is provided and to the right you will see links to several different data products.

ACS Data Profiles have been released for several years.  There are 2004 ACS demographic, social, economic, and housing tabular profiles.  Also, there is a 2004 ACS Narrative Profile.

These products are available for the United States, all states, the District of Columbia, and other geographic areas with a population of 250,000 or more.  Data Profiles also were released for geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more in the ACS test sites.

Single-Year Data Profiles are familiar to most ACS data users.  Multi-Year Profiles were introduced more recently.  In 2005, Multi-Year Profiles were released for the United States, all states, the District of Columbia, and other geographic areas with a population of 1,000,000 or more.  Multi-Year Profiles also were released for geographic areas of 250,000 in the ACS test sites.

## Slide 5

**Notes:**
	NOTE:  Multi-Year Profiles will not be released in 2006 and 2007 for the 2005 and 2006 surveys because of sample design changes.  Multi-Year Profiles will be released again in 2008 and following years.	

	This is the 2004 Multi-Year Profile for Alaska.  The sex and age portion of general demographic characteristics is shown here.

	The 35 to 44 years row is highlighted.  Notice the “*” beside the percentages for 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.  This indicates that each of these percentages is statistically different from the 2004 percentage. The percentage of Alaska’s population in the age category 35 to 44 years has been declining since 2000.

	The total population row at the top of the table has a “c” beside the numbers for 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.  This indicates that the total population is controlled to the intercensal population estimate for Alaska in each of these years.

	In the NOTE at the top of the table, data users are reminded that the 2000-2004 ACS data are for the household population and exclude people living in group quarters. 

## Slide 6

**Notes:**
A number of new data products were released in January 2006.

The first new data product is found by clicking on the link Selected Population Profiles.  The 2004 ACS selected population profiles are available for the United States, each of the states, and the District of Columbia.

## Slide 7

**Notes:**
	In the 2004 ACS, for the United States, there are 120 detailed race, Hispanic origin, and ancestry Selected Population Profiles.  For any state, a smaller number will be available.  The threshold for the release of a Selected Population Profile is that the selected group must have a population of 250,000 or more in the geographic area in question.

	In the 2005 ACS the selected group threshold drops to 65,000 for the United States, states, the District of Columbia, and geographic areas with populations larger than 1,000,000.  Many more Selected Population Profiles will be available.

	Back to the 2004 ACS Selected Population Profiles--on the Select Geography page, suppose that you select State and Washington. 

## Slide 8

**Notes:**
The following 12 race and Hispanic origin profiles are available:
Total population
White alone
White alone or in combination
Black alone or in combination
Asian alone
Asian alone or in combination
Some other race alone or in combination
Hispanic or Latino
Mexican
Not Hispanic or Latino
Not Hispanic or Latino, White alone
Not Hispanic or Latino, White alone or in combination
The following 6 ancestry profiles also are available:
English
French
German
Irish
Norwegian
United States or American

## Slide 9

**Notes:**
This is the list of 2004 ACS Ranking Tables.  As you can see, almost all of these are new in 2004.

Each Ranking Table has an ID number beginning with the letter “R” followed by four numerals.  The first two numbers after the “R” show the ACS topic.  For example the R01.. Ranking Tables refer to some aspect of age and sex.

The next slide shows an important feature of the ACS Ranking Tables.

## Slide 10

**Notes:**
This Ranking Table shows child poverty estimates for large places (cities) in 2004.  

On the left side of the table we have clicked the link to “View this table with statistical significance.”  We have decided to examine the ranking of Long Beach city relative to other large cities.  The dots in the second column of the table show other cities whose child poverty estimates are not statistically different from the child poverty estimate of Long Beach.

The child poverty estimate for Long Beach is not statistically different from those cities above it in the Ranking Table, Atlanta and Detroit.  On the other hand, the child poverty estimates of eleven cities below Long Beach in the Ranking Table also are not statistically different from the child poverty estimate for Long Beach.

It is important that data users understand that Long Beach is one of the large cities with a high percent of children below poverty level level.  It shares that distinction with two other large California cities (Oakland and Stockton).  The estimate of child poverty in Long Beach in 2004 has a margin of error (MOE) of plus or minus 10.1 percentage points.  This is to say, the lower bound of the estimate is 35.1 percent and the upper bound is 55.3 percent. 

## Slide 11

**Notes:**
This is the list of ACS 2004 Subject Tables.  Forty-three Subject Tables were released in November 2005 for the United States, all states, and the District of Columbia, as well as sub-state geographic areas with a population of 250,000 or more.

ACS Subject Tables are similar to the Census 2000 Quick Tables, but they contain much more information than the Quick Tables.

Subject Tables display percent distributions rather than count estimates.  A margin of error (MOE) is shown beside each percent estimate.  The margin of error is the 90-percent confidence interval, plus or minus.  It conveys the same information as the lower bound and upper bound shown in other ACS data products. 

The Subject Tables ID numbers are similar to the Ranking Table ID numbers.  Each has an ID number beginning with the letter “S” followed by 4 numerals.  The first two numbers after the “S” designate the ACS topic.  Subject Tables topic codes are identical to Ranking Table topic codes.  For example, both R01... and S01.. show Age and Sex estimates.

## Slide 12

**Notes:**
For the 2004 ACS, In addition to the 120 race, Hispanic origin, and ancestry Selected Population Profiles, 7 Selected Population Profiles can be accessed from the Subject Tables page.
S0102  Population 60 Years and Over
S0103  Population 65 Years and Over
S0901  Children Characteristics
S1001  Grandchildren Characteristics
S0902  Teenagers’ Characteristics
S0803  Workers 16 Years and Over
S0602  Selected Characteristics of the Native and Foreign-Born Population

For the 2004 ACS, these profiles are available for the United States and those states where the population group numbers 250,000 or more.  They will be available for geographic areas where the population group numbers 65,000 or more when the 2005 ACS data products are released during the latter half of 2006.

## Slide 13

**Notes:**
This is the ACS 2004 Base Table Mapping List.  It describes the 879 Base Tables released in August and November 2005.

All of the Base Tables have been renumbered.  Each has an ID beginning with the letter “B” followed by 5 numerals.  The IDs for tables that are iterated by race and Hispanic origin end with a letter.  The first two numbers after the “B” designate the ACS topic.  For example, the topic of the B01... Base Tables is Sex and Age.

Some of the new 2004 ACS Base Tables are the same as the old 2003 ACS Detailed Tables; others are different.  See column E of the Base Table Mapping List.

All of the 2004 ACS Base Tables were released either in August 2005 (Wave 1) or November 2005 (Wave 2).  See column F of the Base Table Mapping List. 

This mapping list will be released each year.

## Slide 14

**Notes:**
There are 29 new workplace tables.  The geographic areas for which these tables were produced are where the person worked, rather than where he or she lived.

The 2004 ACS workplace tables are available for the United States, all states, and counties, places, county subdivisions, and metropolitan statistical areas with populations of 250,000 or more.  For the 2005 ACS, workplace tables will be available for geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more.

For the state of Washington, 2004 ACS workplace tables are available for the following places:
Seattle city
Yakima city

Yakima is included in the 2004 ACS workplace tables, even though its population was less than 250,000, because it was in an ACS test site.

In the 2005 ACS data products, workplace tables will be available for many geographic areas within the State of Washington including the following cities:  Bellevue, Bellingham, Everett, Federal Way, Kent, Seattle, Spokane, Spokane Valley, Tacoma, Yakima, and Vancouver.  

## Slide 15

**Notes:**
The easiest way to find the workplace tables is to select tables by keyword and type workplace in the keyword box.

When you click the Search button, 35 tables will be listed.  Of these, 6 are place of work tables.  These tables are:
B08007
B08008
B08009
B08130
B08131
B99082

These tables give place of work information based on where the person lived in 2004.  For example, B08130 shows Means of Transportation to Work for the 34,390 workers 16 years and over who lived in Yakima in 2004.

New workplace table B08501 shows Means of Transportation to Work for the 46,496 workers 16 years and over who worked in Yakima in 2004.

## Slide 16

## Slide 17

**Notes:**
This is an example of the ACS 2004 Thematic Maps.  They permit a geographic representation of data similar to that found in the Ranking Tables.  The Thematic Maps are limited to showing comparisons of states to each other.  No ACS Thematic Maps show sub-state detail.

Thematic Map ID numbers begin with the letter “M” followed by four numerals.  The first two numbers after the “M” show the ACS topic.  The Thematic Map topic codes are identical to those of the Base Tables, Subject Tables, and Ranking Tables.

This particular Thematic Map shows that many Western states have a high percentage of renters spending 30 percent or more of their income on rent and utilities.

## Slide 18

**Notes:**
There is a link Important Notes About Using the Data on the American Community Survey Data Sets page.

The Using the Data page includes links to the following:
Section Overview
Subject Definitions
Accuracy of the Data
Quality Measures
Errata
Geography Notes

There is a link to Quality Measures in the Other Resources panel at the upper right of this screen.

## ACS Quality Measures

**ACS Quality Measures**

**Notes:**
The Quality Measures page includes the following information to help data users 
assess the accuracy and reliability of the ACS data.

  How large was the sample used to produce the ACS estimate?  (Sample Size)

  How well does the ACS cover the population?  (Coverage Rates)

  What was the response to the survey?  Response Rates)

  How complete were the data used to produce a specific estimate?  (Item Allocation Rates)

## Slide 20