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Census making changes to fit a changing America

The days of having to wait a decade for updated census numbers about a changing America will soon be a thing of the past, now that the Census bureau has mastered the use of sampling.

Each month, The American Community Survey will go out in the mail to 250,000 different households across the nation.

Census officials say the ACS is more timely and relevant than the decennial census long form it replaces, providing decision-makers, communities and businesses with current information about their changing populations every year, rather than once a decade. Information provided by the ACS includes topics ranging from housing values and educational attainment to commute times and language spoken at home.

"We believe the American Community Survey is the future not only for the Census Bureau, but also for local leaders, businesses and growing communities,” said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon. "For the first time, small communities will have timely and accurate information that will help leaders make better decisions about where to build and locate roads, schools and hospitals.

"Likewise, businesses will be better able to identify likely markets for their products and services,” Kincannon continued.

Further, the survey will improve the way the federal government decides how to distribute more than $200 billion in federal funding each year, currently allotted based on five-year old census long-form data.

Each year, the Census Bureau will mail the mandatory survey to a rolling, random sample of about 3 million households throughout the country and Puerto Rico. Roughly 2.5 percent of the nations 140 million households — or about 1-in-40 households — will participate in the survey each year. By comparison, 1-in-6 households received the Census 2000 long form.

In development and testing since 1996, the ACS currently produces data for areas with populations of 250,000 or more. This week’s mailout of questionnaires expands the survey from 1,239 counties to all of the nations 3,142 counties, as well as Puerto Rico, American Indian reservations, Alaska native villages and Hawaiian homelands.

The Census Bureau will release data for areas with populations of 65,000 or more annually beginning in summer 2006. For smaller areas, it will take three or five years, depending on their population size, to accumulate a large enough sample to produce data. Once those data are collected, though, the Census Bureau will release tabulations based on rolling three-year averages annually for areas with populations between 20,000 and 65,000, and rolling five-year averages annually for areas as small as census tracts.

Households selected for the ACS will receive a letter from the Census Bureau Director asking them to respond promptly to the survey. Attempts at follow-up interviews of a sample of nonresponders will be made first by phone and then by personal visit.

As with the answers to other Census questionnaires, federal law guarantees the confidentiality of ACS responses. Every person with access to the answers takes an oath to protect their confidentiality. Violating this law is a federal crime with maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The ACS eliminates the need for a Census long form in 2010. The Census short form will continue to produce the official count of the nation’s population every 10 years, fulfilling the Constitutionally mandated function of determining Congressional apportionment. The permanent staff, professional interviewers and mapping updates needed for the survey will contribute to more complete and accurate results for both the ACS and the 2010 Census.

For more information, visit the Census Bureau Web site at www.census.gov.