DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36801.v1
title: American Housing Survey, 2015 National Data, Including an Arts and Culture Module
title: Version 1

description: The 2015 American Housing Survey marks the first release of a newly integrated national sample and independent metropolitan area samples. The 2015 release features many variable name revisions, as well as the integration of an AHS Codebook Interactive Tool available on the U.S. Census Bureau We site. This data collection provides information on the characteristics of a national sample of housing units in 2015, including apartments, single-family homes, mobile homes, and vacant housing units. Data from the 15 largest metropolitan areas in the United States are included in the national sample survey (the AHS 2015 Metropolitan Data are also available as ICPSR 36805). The data are presented in three separate parts: Part 1, Household Record (Main Record), Part 2, Person Record, and Part 3, Project Record.
Household Record data includes questions about household occupancy and tenure, household exterior and interior structural features, household equipment and appliances, housing problems, housing costs, home improvement, neighborhood features, recent moving information, income, and basic demographic information. The household record data also features four rotating topical modules: Arts and Culture, Food Security, Housing Counseling, and Healthy Homes.
Person Record data includes questions about personal disabilities, income, and basic demographic information. Finally, the Project Record data includes questions about home improvement projects. Specific questions were asked about the types of projects, costs, funding sources, and year of completion.
description: The purpose of the AHS is to provide a current and continuous series of data on selected housing and demographic characteristics.
description: The 2015 American Housing Survey (AHS) integrated national sample was obtained through a two-stage sample selection process:
(1) First Stage of Sample Selection: Select Primary Sampling Units
The first stage of the sample selection was to determine which representative areas within the United States to include in the sample. To accomplish this, the United States was divided into areas made up of counties or groups of counties known as primary sampling units (PSUs), of which there were two types: self-representing PSUs and non-self representing PSUs. The end result of the first stage of sample selection was an AHS sample spread over 309 PSUs. The 85 self-representing PSUs included 547 counties and county equivalents, and the 224 non-self-representing PSUs consist of 353 counties and county equivalents.
(2) Second Stage of Sample Selection: Select Housing Units Within PSUs
The second stage of sample selection involved selecting housing units from each of the 309 PSUs. The housing units were selected from a list of all housing units in the United States known as the Master Address File (MAF). The MAF is maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau and based on updates from the prior decennial census and semiannual updates from the United States Postal Service (USPS) Delivery Sequence File, which itself consists of the addresses and mail routes serviced by the USPS. The MAF is updated semiannually in January and July using information provided by the USPS. The 2015 AHS sample was based on the July 2014 MAF.
The 2015 integrated national sample consisted of 85,393 housing units. To ensure the sample was representative of all housing units within the PSU, the U.S. Census Bureau stratified all housing units in each PSU into different housing categories.
Please see the 2015 American Housing Survey integrated
national sample: Sample Design, Weighting,
and Error Estimation Documentation for more detailed information.
description: The data are not weighted. However, within the Household Record (Part 1) this data collection contains one Final Weight variable (WEIGHT), two Split Sample Weight variables (SP1WEIGHT and SP2WEIGHT), and 480 Replicate Weight variables (REPWEIGHT1-SP2REPWGT160), that should be used in any analysis.
Please see the 2015 American Housing Survey integrated
national sample: Sample Design, Weighting,
and Error Estimation Documentation for more detailed information.
description: Response Rates: The weighted overall response rate was 85 percent and the unweighted overall response rate was also 85 percent.
description: For the 2015 survey year, HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau selected an entirely new sample for the American Housing Survey (AHS). The 2015 AHS sample was composed of an integrated national sample and independent metropolitan area samples. The national sample is described as integrated because it incorporated multiple sample types, including: (1) a representative sample of the nation; (2) representative oversamples of each of the 15 largest metropolitan areas; and (3) a representative oversample of HUD-assisted housing units.
HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau intend to survey the entire integrated national sample once every 2 years. As such, it is a longitudinal panel with a 2-year survey cycle.
The 2015 AHS integrated national sample originally selected 85,393 housing units for interview. Approximately, 3,382 of the 85,393 total units selected for interview were found to be ineligible because the units either no longer existed or did not meet the AHS definition of a housing unit.
Each sample unit in the 2015 integrated national sample was asked a core set of questions. The sample was also randomly split into two sample groups that were each asked a separate set of additional questions from four rotating topical modules. One sample group was asked questions on the topical modules of housing counseling, arts and culture, and food security, while the other group was asked questions on the topical module of healthy homes.
Please see the 2015 American Housing Survey Integrated
National Sample: Sample Design, Weighting,
and Error Estimation document for more detailed information.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Household Record
DS2: Person Record
DS3: Project Record
description: Residential housing units in the United States that exist at the time the survey is conducted. The universe includes both occupied and vacant units but excludes group quarters, businesses, hotels, and motels. Smallest Geographic Unit: Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA)
description: computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI); computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI)Please see the related data collection, American Housing Survey, 2015 Metropolitan Data, Including an Arts and Culture Module [ICPSR 36805] for additional information on the American Housing 2015 Survey.The linking variable, CONTROL, serves as the control code for the housing unit across the Household Record (Part 1), Person Record (Part 2), and the Project Record (Part 3) datasets. The Person Record and Project Record tables each have a many-to-one relationship with the Household Record table. They can be linked to the Household Record table using the variable CONTROL.Prior to 2015, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau maintained the American Housing Survey Codebook as a living document that spanned surveys conducted from 1997 through 2013. Starting with the 2015 survey, HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau have implemented an entirely new approach to maintaining the AHS Codebook called the AHS Codebook Interactive Tool that can be found on the U.S. Census Bureau Web site.Users should note that the AHS missing value coding scheme has changed for the 2015 Public Use File. There are now only two missing value response categories: "Not Reported" has been coded as .M and "Not Applicable" has been coded as .N in the AHS Codebook Interactive Tool; these codes are represented in the datasets as numeric missing codes -6 "Not Reported" and -9 "Not Applicable." Please see the User Guide for additional information.Beginning with the 2015 American Housing Survey Public Use File, many variable name revisions have been made to historically recurring variables. For a detailed description of these changes, please see the 2015 AHS Variable Crosswalk Excel document available for download in the zipped package.Additional information about the American Housing Survey Series can be found at the HUD User Web site and the U.S. Census Bureau Web site.