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### Release Information

**CB12-204**
**Contact:**  Public Information Office301-763-3030

American FactFinderFTP sitePress Kit2011 ACS Questionnaire

## FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  THURSDAY, OCT. 25, 2012

## Census Bureau Releases 2009-2011 American Community  Survey Estimates

### Also Releasing Two Briefs on Marital Events of Group Quarters Population and Multigenerational Households

The U.S. Census  Bureau today released the latest findings from the American Community Survey,  the primary source of small-area estimates available on a wide range of  important statistics about people and housing for every community across the  country and in Puerto Rico. The estimates released today cover a three-year  period from 2009 to 2011 and are available for areas with a population of  20,000 or more.  

In addition, the Census Bureau is  releasing two briefs based on these new  estimates, focusing on subpopulations better measured using the larger  three-year sample of data files. One brief covers recent marital events in group  quarters (military quarters, adult correctional facilities and nursing  facilities) and the other is about multigenerational households (three or more  generations living together).

"The American Community Survey estimates provide timely local demographic, economic, social and housing  statistics for small communities across the country and in Puerto Rico to a  wide range of users," said Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau's acting  director. "The results are used by everyone from retailers and homebuilders to  town and city planners. The statistics are indispensable to anyone who has to make decisions in the  communities." 

Since the first census in  1790, conducted under the direction of Thomas Jefferson, census questions have  collected information on the demographic characteristics of the nation's people. 

The survey is the  primary source of local estimates for most of the 40 topics it covers, such as  education, income, poverty, occupation, language, nativity, ancestry and  homeownership. 

**2009-2011 American Community Survey Briefs  Marital Events of Selected Group Quarters  Populations: 2009-2011**

This brief examines  statistics from the 2009-2011 American Community Survey on marriage, divorce  and widowhood in the past year among people living in group quarters, such as  military quarters, adult correctional facilities and nursing facilities. 

The following highlights  come from the *Marital Events of  Selected Group Quarters Populations: 2009-2011*:
                            - A higher percentage of married people living in military quarters got married in the past year (39 percent), compared with 8 percent in adult correctional facilities, 1 percent in nursing facilities and 4 percent in households.  This is mainly because those in military quarters were much younger.
                            - Nine percent of currently divorced adults in correctional facilities got divorced in the last 12 months.
                            - The ever-married population in adult correctional facilities was more likely to have been married three or more times (7 percent) than those living in households or nursing facilities (5 percent).

**Multigenerational Households: 2009-2011**

This brief provides  information by state on three types of multigenerational households, by race or  Hispanic origin of the householder, and examines multigenerational households as a percentage of family households by county.

The following  highlights come from *Multigenerational Households: 2009-2011*:
                            - There were more than 76 million family households in the United States. Of these, about 4.3 million (5.6 percent) were multigenerational households.
                            - Hawaii had the highest percentage of multigenerational households, accounting for 11.1 percent of all family households in that state.
                            - More than 85 percent of states where the percentage of family households that were       multigenerational exceeded the national average were in the South or West. 
                            - Among multigenerational households, the majority (64.6 percent) included a householder, a child of the householder and a grandchild of the householder. Thirty-four percent contained a householder, a parent or parent-in-law and a child. Only 1.7 percent contained a parent or parent-in-law, a householder, a child of the householder and a grandchild of the householder. 
                            - The percentage of family households that were multigenerational ranged from 3.7 percent for non-Hispanic white alone households to 13.0 percent for Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone households.

**For More Information**

See detailed  population, economic and housing data from the Census Bureau’s <American FactFinder> database to find statistics for your area.

To learn more about  how the statistics from the American Community Survey are used by different  sectors in the community, including state and local government, federal  agencies, businesses, researchers and the public please visit:  <www.census.gov/acs/www/>.

**Additional American Community Survey Results**

On Dec. 6, the  Census Bureau will release the five-year ACS statistics, available for all  geographic areas regardless of population size, down to the block group level. These estimates will cover data collected between 2007 and 2011. Embargo subscribers will have access to the estimates on Dec. 4.

Additional short  reports, or briefs, will be released through the end of 2012 and into early 2013.  Topics covered include veterans, people with disabilities, public assistance, commuting, poverty and household sharing, the structural characteristics of housing and mixed-nativity married-couple households.

**Methodology**

As is the case with all surveys, statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. All comparisons made in the reports have been tested and found to be  statistically significant at the 90 percent confidence level, unless otherwise  noted. Please consult the tables for specific  margins of error. For more information, go to   <https://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/documentation_main/>.

Changes in survey  design from year to year can affect results. See <https://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/2011_release/>  for more information on changes affecting the 2011 statistics. See <https://www.census.gov/acs/www/guidance_for_data_users/comparing_2011/>  for guidance on comparing 2011 American Community Survey statistics with  previous years and the 2010 Census.

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