# Presentation: 048626

## Measuring The American Dream

**Measuring ****The American Dream**

## Erica Filipek, Salima Jenkins, Trent Langley

- Residential Construction Branch
- Manufacturing and Construction Division
- (301) 763-5160

## Why does the Census Bureau collect data on building permits?

**Why does the Census Bureau collect data on building permits?**

**  ****Policymakers, investors, public officials, and businesses all need to know what the future holds in store for the economy**

**  ****New construction generates a need for everything from lumber to sinks to curtains, so it affects many different parts of the economy**

**  ****Building permit estimates are a component of the U.S. Index of Leading Economic Indicators**

**  ****Data on building permits are also used to estimate the numbers of Housing Starts, Housing Completions, and New Home Sales**

## Slide 4

## Estimates of new residential housing  units are also used by Population Division in the calculation of population estimates!

## Which building permits do we count?

**Which building permits do we count?**

**  ****Only residential permits:**

**  ****Group quarters (nursing homes, dormitories, etc.)**

**  ****Apartments**

**  ****Senior housing, assisted living facilities, congregate care, etc.**

**  ****Permits for additions, alterations, and renovations**

**  ****Single-family houses (attached and detached)**

**What types of permits are excluded?**

**  ****Non-residential permits (discontinued in 1995)**

**  ****Permits for buildings that are completely publicly-owned**

## Where do we get the building permits data?

**There are 42,000 active governments in the U.S.**** :**

**  ****13,000  require a permit from another jurisdiction**

**    ****8,000  do not require permits**

**  ****42,000  total governments**

**  *****19,000  unique permit offices make up the***
***                       ******Building Permit Survey (BPS) universe***

**    ****1,000  exist in multiple counties**

**A jurisdiction’s status can change monthly!**

## Some offices are surveyed monthly and some are surveyed only annually

**   ****monthly sample**

**Some offices are surveyed monthly and some are surveyed only annually**

**  ****The remaining permit offices are surveyed annually**

***  ******Most larger permit offices and a sample of smaller offices are surveyed monthly***

***  ******The monthly data are used to make national, regional, and state estimates***

**Participation in the survey is voluntary!**

## What methods do we use to collect the data?

**What methods do we use to collect the data?**

**  ****Form mailed back**

**  ****Form faxed back**

**  ****Electronic files – We receive a file from some states**

**  ****E-mail – We hope to provide this option in the future**

**  ****Internet (Permit data from respondents’ websites)**

**  ****Paper listings in various formats**

**We try to make reporting easy.  Unlike many surveys, we will accept data from respondents in almost any form!  **

**These include:**

## What happens if respondents do not report?

**  ****We request missing monthly data**
**          ****if 1 to 4 months are missing**

**  ****We call respondents to encourage them to respond**

**  ****We request annual data for monthly**
**          ****places if 5 or more months are missing**

**  ****We try again to get the reported data when we**
**   ****do the annual survey**

**  ****State Data Centers and other state officials **
**       ****- We are asking for your assistance today!                          **

**  ****We impute the data based on previous reports**

## We provide assistance for respondents on our website: www.census.gov/permitsfaq

**We provide assistance for respondents on our website:**** www.census.gov/permitsfaq**

## What data are available from the survey?

**What data are available from the survey?**

**There is **_**great**_** interest in this information because very few (if any!) Census Bureau economic surveys provide such timely local data!**

**The survey provides a wealth of timely information on local residential construction trends.**

**Permits are public information (not subject to Title 13)**

**Data are released monthly and annually for the U.S. total and:**

**  ****The 4 Census Regions**

**  ****The 9 Census Divisions**

**  ****Metropolitan Areas**

**  ****Counties**

**  ****Individual jurisdictions**

**Local monthly data are released on the 18****th**** workday of the following month.**

**  ****The 50 States and the District of Columbia**

## What do our monthly data products contain?

**What do our monthly data products contain?**

**Place level data – individual jurisdictions that report monthly.**

**Metropolitan Area (MA) data – Every MA is listed, but the data only comes from the 8700 monthly reporting places.**

**State Data – Based on Data from 8700 monthly reporting places; some of the monthly places are weighted to represent annual places that are collected at the end of the year.**

**County Data – The counties that are listed are the counties where every place within the county reports monthly; currently there are approximately 900 such counties.**

## Local data for all 19,000 jurisdictions are available annually!

**Place level data – 19,000 individual jurisdictions that report monthly.**

**State/Metropolitan Area data - Every State/MA in the U.S. is listed, and the data represents every permit issuing place.**

**County Data – Every county within the U.S. is listed; over 3000 counties.**

**Local data for all 19,000 jurisdictions are available annually!**

**What do our annual data products contain?**

## Slide 15

## So the Building Permits Survey is unique!

**So the Building Permits Survey is unique!**

**Local officials can identify the areas where data are imputed because they did not report!**
**Lack of reporting also affects the population estimates which are based on the permit data.**** **

## Data CD

**Today we are providing you with a CD-Rom containing**
**Place level data for each of your states. Each CD contains:**

** ****Places that should have, but did not report Annual 2003 data**

** ****Places that reported Annual 2003 data**

**  ****Places that reported data for August 2004**

** ****Places that should have, but did not report for August 2004**

## How to access local data?

**Permits data is located at ****www.census.gov/permits**

** ****Click on ‘Building Permits’**

** ****Click on ‘Permits by County or Place’**

** ****Select state and proceed from that point**

## Are there any

*** ******Questions?***

## If you are interested in receiving data or have questions about the CD-Rom.

** **
*** ******Permits no longer being required***

*** ***

**Please contact our office**

**Phone: (301) 763-5160**

**If you know of an area where permit coverage has changed due to: **

*** ******Permits no longer being required***

*** ******Permits office merging with another permit office***

*** ******Permits office splitting into two or more jurisdictions***