DATA SOURCES

Most of the data presented in Taking Stock derive from Housing Assistance Council tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) and Decennial Census of Population and Housing. Five-year estimates from the 2017-2020 ACS, and the 2020 Census of Population and Housing are the primary data sources utilized within these series, but data from prior ACS surveys and decennial Census’ are also presented for time series analyses. Analyses and data from additional sources (e.g., Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others) are presented and noted throughout this report. Descriptions and links to data sources utilized are presented in the ‘About the Data’ appendix of this report.

U.S. Census Bureau’s Decennial Census of Population and Housing¹

The U.S. census is intended to count every resident in the United States. The data collection is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years. The data collected by the decennial census determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities. This report includes census data from 1970, 1980,1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020.

Until 2010, recent censuses consisted of a “short form,” which included basic questions about age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, household relationship, and owner/renter status, and a “long form.” The long form was a sample of households and included not only the basic questions on the short form but also detailed questions about social, economic, and housing characteristics. The questions on the long form supplied data and information for a range of programs affecting education, veterans, employment, housing and community development, public health care, commuting, services for the elderly and disabled, and assistance programs for low-income families and children.²

2020 Census of Population and Housing

The 2020 decennial census counted the U.S. population at over 331.4 million. It marked the 24th census in U.S. history and the first time that households were invited to respond to the census online.³

2010 Census of Population and Housing

The 2010 decennial census counted the U.S. population at over 308.7 million. Approximately 74 percent of U.S. households returned their census forms by mail; the remaining households were counted by census workers walking neighborhoods throughout the United States. National and state population totals from the 2010 Census were released on December 21, 2010. This was the first decennial census without a long form survey. The collection and estimation of detailed demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics, previously achieved through the long form, were moved to the American Community Survey, which produces estimates annually.

2000 Census of Population and Housing

The 2000 decennial census counted the U.S. population at over 281.4 million. The short form (used for population counts and select demographic measures like race and age) contained 7 questions and the long form (used for all other demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics) contained 52 questions.

1990 Census of Population and Housing

The 1990 decennial census counted the U.S. population at over 248.7 million. The short form (used for population counts and select demographic measures like race and age) contained 13 questions and the long form (used for all other demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics) contained 45 questions.⁴

1980 Census of Population and Housing⁵

For most of the United States, “Census Day” for the 1980 enumeration was April 1, 1980. The 1980 field enumeration procedures were similar to those used in 1970, with the exception of the greatly expanded use of the mail for questionnaire delivery and return. Households received a questionnaire in the mail, completed it, and mailed it back to their local census district office.

1970 Census of Population and Housing⁶

Coverage for the 1970 Census incorporated a two-phase approach. The first phase was the use of a basic census methodology that permitted knowledgeable outside sources to have an offer in put into the list of housing units established by the census, and provided for automatic checks that enumerators actually completed a questionnaire for all known units. This was done in areas containing about 60 percent of the population through the creation of an address register independent of the enumeration phase, correction and updating of the register by U.S. Post Office employees familiar with their routes, and checks by Census Bureau employees to ensure that all housing units on the address register were accounted for when enumerators had completed their assignments.

U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) Five-Year Estimates⁷

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey designed to provide communities with reliable and timely demographic, social, economic, and housing data every year. The U.S. Census Bureau presents data from the ACS in the form of both single-year and five-year estimates. These estimates are fundamentally different from data presented through the decennial census or ACS’s predecessor, the decennial census “long form.”

In order to deliver more timely information for all the geographic areas served by the decennial long form, the Census Bureau designed the ACS as a sample survey using a continuous measurement approach to data collection. A sample of 3.5 million addresses is drawn from the Census Bureau’s master address file each year.⁸

ACS survey questionnaires are sent to approximately 295,000 addresses across the country every month.⁹Addresses from which a questionnaire is not returned by mail are followed up, first in an attempt to obtain the information by telephone, and then, for a sample of nonresponding households, in person by a Census Bureau field interviewer.

Based on responses from the series of 12 independent monthly samples each calendar year, the ACS provides estimates of demographic, housing, social, and economic characteristics for all states, as well as for cities, counties, metropolitan areas, and population groups of 65,000 or more. These estimates, based on a full year’s worth of collected ACS data, are called “one-year estimates.” For less populated areas, geographies with a population less than 65,000 people, it takes five years to accumulate enough survey data to achieve data estimates with a statistical reliability similar to those produced with the prior decennial census long-form.¹⁰These “five-year estimates” are published for all census geographies each year. The five-year data represents the only estimates for small populations (less than 65,000) each year.¹¹

A detailed description of ACS data collection methodology and the survey’s sample design may be found at:

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/methodology/design-and-methodology.html.

For more information on using and interpreting ACS data please consult the Census Bureau

Documentation:

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/library/handbooks.html.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data¹²

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) was enacted by Congress in 1975 and is implemented by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Regulation C.¹³ This regulation applies to certain financial institutions, including banks, savings associations, credit unions, and other mortgage lending institutions. In 2021, there were approximately 23.3 million loan records reported by 4,338 financial institutions.¹⁴

Using the loan data submitted by these financial institutions, the CFPB creates aggregate and disclosure reports for each metropolitan area (MA) that are available to the public at central data depositories located in each MA.

While HMDA data is a critical resource to understanding lending trends, the limitations of this data in rural areas must be acknowledged. Only depository institutions with assets of $50 million or more that operated a branch in a metropolitan area were required to report HMDA data in 2021.¹⁵ Consequently, an undetermined amount of rural lending data is unavailable, as many small, rural financial institutions are not required to report lending information. Despite these limitations, HMDA provides the best available information on rural lending. For detailed information about Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data used in this database please consult the following:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/hmda/ https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_beginners-guide-accessing-using-hmda-data_guide_2022-06.pdf https://ffiec.cfpb.gov/data-browser

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics¹⁶

The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program is a federal-state cooperative effort in which monthly estimates of total employment and unemployment are prepared for over 7,500 geographies including nation, state, and county estimates. These estimates are key indicators of local economic conditions.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) makes these estimates (not seasonally adjusted) publicly available from 1990 to the present.¹⁷The BLS is responsible for the concepts, definitions, technical procedures, validation, and publication of the estimates that state workforce agencies prepare under agreement with BLS.

The concepts and definitions underlying LAUS data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the household survey that is the source of the national unemployment rate. State monthly model-based estimates are controlled in “real time” to sum to national monthly employment and unemployment estimates from the CPS. These models combine current and historical data from the CPS, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, and state unemployment insurance (UI) systems. Estimates for seven large areas and their respective balances of state also are model-based. Estimates for counties are produced through a building-block approach known as the “Handbook method.” This procedure also uses data from several sources, including the CPS, the CES program, state UI systems, and the Census Bureau’s ACS, to create estimates that are adjusted to the statewide measures of employment and unemployment. Estimates for cities are prepared using disaggregation techniques based on inputs from the ACS, annual population estimates, and current UI data. The estimates presented in Rural Data Central are not seasonally adjusted.

For more information on the BLS county unemployment data see the following url:

https://www.bls.gov/lau/.

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Federally Assisted Housing Resources

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service is an agency under USDA Rural Development. In FY 2021, USDA obligated 139,221 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $24.2 billion. Since the first USDA housing loan was made (around 1950), the agency has funded the construction, purchase, or repair of over 5.5 million rural housing units representing $384.1 billion.

The USDA Rural Development (RD) data presented in Taking Stock derive from HAC tabulations of USDA Finance Office reports. Most of the data comes from the USDA Rural Development “Report Code (RC) 205 – Report of Loan and Grant Obligations, Vouchers, Allotments or Distributions.” The RC 205 report summarizes the number and dollar amount of the agency’s fund obligations by program and by State. Rural Data Central references sections of the report: RC 205 – H includes data on the USDA housing programs except for Rental Assistance, and RC 205 – F contains summarized Rental Assistance data. The loan and grant obligation data are based on the federal fiscal year (October 1-September 30) to date for each month. An “Allocation” is the distribution of congressionally appropriated funds to the states. Most of the single-family housing program funds are allocated to the states by a formula. Multifamily housing (MFH) program funds are not allocated. MFH funds are made available through a Notice of Fund Availability (NOFA) or a Notice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA). An “Obligation” is a commitment of program funds to a specific loan or grant applicant.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Point-in-Time Count and Housing Inventory Count¹⁸

HUD’s Point-in-Time (PIT) data provides a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness, along with more detailed information on select demographic and social characteristics, on a single night in January.¹⁹HUD requires that Continuums of Care conduct an annual count of people experiencing homelessness who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and safe havens on a single night. Continuums of Care also must conduct a count of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness every other year (odd numbered years). Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally. The Housing Inventory Count (HIC) is a point-in-time inventory of provider programs within a Continuum of Care that provide beds and units dedicated to serve people experiencing homelessness (and, for permanent housing projects, where homeless at entry, per the HUD homeless definition), categorized by five program types: emergency shelter; transitional housing; rapid re-housing; safe haven; and permanent supportive housing.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 Data²⁰

CDC reports COVID-19 cases and deaths online in multiple locations, including the COVID Data Tracker, through provisional death counts, and in patient-level data sets. Sharing timely and accurate information with the public is a core activity of the emergency response.The data help track disease-related trends, detect outbreaks, and determine whether public health actions are working.Much of the information shared by CDC is based on reporting from jurisdictions. Accurate and timely reporting from jurisdictions drives this process.

U.S. Census Bureau’s Pulse Survey²¹

The U.S. Census Bureau, in collaboration with multiple federal agencies, produces data on the social and economic effects ofcoronavirus on American households. The Household Pulse Survey was designed to deploy quickly and efficiently, collecting data to measure household experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. It has evolved to include content on other emergent social and economic issues facing households. Data will be disseminated in near real-time to inform federal and state action.

U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufactured Housing Survey (MHS)²²

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufactured Housing Survey (MHS) is sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and collected by the Census Bureau, andprovidesdata onshipments, pricesand characteristics of new manufactured housing.

Bureau of Economic Analysis Gross Domestic Product²³

A comprehensive measure of the economies of counties, metropolitan statistical areas, and some other local areas. Gross domestic product estimates the value of the goods and services produced in an area. It can be used to compare the size and growth of county economies across the nation.

DEFINING “RURAL”

Establishing a definition of rural poses many challenges. Rural areas share the common characteristics of comparatively few people living in an area, proximity to large cities, and considerable traveling distances to market areas for employment and everyday living activities. Over the years, public agencies and researchers have used combinations of these factors to define rural areas and designate population as rural.

Some of the more commonly used definitions to designate rural areas are promulgated by government organizations such as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Census Bureau, and other federal agencies. These classifications, however, are far from synonymous or mutually exclusive concepts. For example, after the 2013 OMB Metropolitan Areas reclassification, it is estimated that approximately 56 percent of the census-defined rural population now lives in metropolitan areas.²⁴Such incongruities illustrate the complexity of relying on individual definitions for research and programmatic purposes.

Political and economic geography is another important consideration when determining the rurality of an area. The county is a commonly used unit of geography from which to classify rural or outside metropolitan areas. In many rural areas, the county is often identified in terms of political, social, and economic contexts. However, county-based designations are not the optimum criteria on which to base a rural definition. Large counties, particularly in the Western United States, may dilute or mask rural population given their geographic size and influence.

HAC’s Rural & Small-Town Tract Designation

Given the changes and shortcomings to traditional definitions used to identify rural geography and populations, HAC developed a sub-county designation of rural and small-town areas which incorporates measures of housing density, commuting, and contiguity at the census tract level to establish a more precise measure of rural character.²⁵This alternative residence definition includes six classifications: 1) rural, 2) small-town, 3) exurban, 4) outer suburban, 5) inner suburban, and 6) urban.

The HAC rural tract classifications are specifically defined by the following characteristics.

 

1. Rural tract – Less than 16 housing units per square mile (.025 housing units per acre).
2. Small-town tract – Sixteen to 64 housing units per square mile (.025 to 0.1 housing units per acre), and a low degree of commuting to a metropolitan core area identified by a USDA ERS designated “Rural Urban Commuting Area Code” (RUCA) score of 4 or higher.
3. Exurban tract – Sixteen to 64 units per square mile (.025 to 0.1 housing units per acre) and a high degree of commuting to a metropolitan core area identified by a RUCA score of 3 or lower.
4. Outer Suburban tract – 65 to 640 housing units per square mile (0.1 to 1.0 housing units per acre).
5. Inner Suburban tract – 641 to 1,600 housing units per square mile (1.1 to 2.5 housing units per acre).
6. Urban tract – More than 1,600 housing units per square mile (2.5 housing units per acre).

In addition to these factors, HAC implements additional adjustment and refinement techniques using GIS technology and visual review to identify and correct for geographic and development anomalies and create classifications with greater contiguity.

For simplicity, these designations are often collapsed into three general classifications of: 1) small town and rural tracts, 2) suburban and exurban tracts, and 3) urban tracts.

USDA Economic Research Service Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes²⁶

The Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes are a detailed and flexible scheme for delineating sub-county components of the U.S. settlement system developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS). RUCA codes are based on the same theoretical concepts used by the Office of Management and Budget to define county-level metropolitan and micropolitan areas. ERS applied similar criteria to measures of population density, urbanization, and daily commuting to identify urban cores and adjacent territory that is economically integrated with those cores. ERS adopted OMB’s metropolitan and micropolitan terminology to highlight the underlying connectedness between the two classification systems. However, the use of census tracts instead of counties as building blocks for RUCA codes provides a different and more detailed geographic pattern of settlement classification. Census tracts are used because they are the smallest geographic building blocks for which reliable commuting data is available.

OMB Metropolitan Areas²⁷

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), beginning in 1949, has classified counties based on their proximity to, and connection with, core-based urban areas. Each metropolitan area (MA) has at least one urbanized area of at least 50,000 people. Based on share of population residing in urbanized areas and commuting patterns, counties are then defined as being either in a MA or not. As a result, each MA consists of counties that have either a large share of their population in the urbanized core(s) and/or a relatively large share of their population commuting to the urbanized core(s). Counties that are outside MAs are often considered rural, although the OMB definition specifically states this is not their description of these areas.²⁸There are additional OMB geographic classifications such as micropolitan statistical areas and core based statistical areas; however, these are not used in Rural Data Central.²⁹

GEOGRAPHIC TERMS AND CONCEPTS

States

States are the primary governmental divisions of the United States. The Census Bureau also recognizes the District of Columbia as a state equivalent in the economic census. The Island Areas (which include Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) are also identified in selected data elements in Rural Data Central.

Counties (or Statistically Equivalent Entities)³⁰

The primary legal divisions of most states are termed “counties.” In Louisiana, these divisions are known as parishes. In Alaska, which has no counties, the statistically equivalent entities are census areas, cities and boroughs (e.g., Juneau City and Borough), municipalities (e.g., Anchorage), and organized boroughs. Census areas are delineated cooperatively for data presentation purposes by the state of Alaska and the U.S. Census Bureau. In four states (Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia), there are one or more incorporated places that are independent of any county organization and thus constitute primary divisions of their states; these incorporated places are known as ‘‘independent cities’’ and are treated as equivalent to counties for data presentation purposes. Municipios are the primary legal divisions of Puerto Rico. For data presentation purposes, the U.S. Census Bureau treats a municipio as the equivalent of a county in the United States. There are 78 municipios in Puerto Rico, all of which are functioning governmental entities.The District of Columbia has no primary divisions, and the entire area is considered equivalent to a county for data presentation purposes.

Census Tracts³¹

Census Tracts are small, relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county or equivalent entity that are updated by local participants prior to each decennial census as part of the Census Bureau’s Participant Statistical Areas Program. The Census Bureau delineates census tracts in situations where no local participant existed or where state, local, or tribal governments declined to participate. The primary purpose of census tracts is to provide a stable set of geographic units for the presentation of statistical data.

Census tracts generally have a population size between 1,200 and 8,000 people, with an optimum size of 4,000 people. A census tract usually covers a contiguous area; however, the spatial size of census tracts varies widely depending on the density of settlement.

Census tract boundaries are delineated with the intention of being maintained over a long time so that statistical comparisons can be made from census to census. Census tracts occasionally are split due to population growth or merged as a result of substantial population decline. Census tract boundaries generally follow visible and identifiable features. They may follow nonvisible legal boundaries, such as minor civil division (MCD) or incorporated place boundaries in some states and situations, to allow for census-tract-to-governmental-unit relationships where the governmental boundaries tend to remain unchanged between censuses. Census tracts are nested within state and county boundaries in the standard census geographic hierarchy.

Continuums of Care

HUD’s continuum of care areas (“Continuum of Care” or “CoC” geography) represent the service areas for “regional or local planning bodies that coordinate housing services funding for homeless families and individuals.”³² CoC areas exist in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. CoC areas, reflecting differences in planning body service areas, can be based on different geographies such as a single city, a city and surrounding county, a region, or a state. CoCs can also change periodically depending on the underlying planning body.³³

DEFINITIONS

Age. Length of time a person has lived in completed years as of April 1 in the year a decennial census is conducted, the census reference date. (Census of Population and Housing)

Broadband Subscription. Household who has a broadband subscription.

No broadband includes households with only dial-up subscription and those with no subscription at all(American Community Survey)

Class of Worker. Categorizes people according to the type of ownership of the employing organization. These categories are: 1) an employee of a private, for-profit company or business, or of an individual, for wages, salary, or commissions; 2) an employee of a private, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, or charitable organization; 3) a local government employee (city, county, etc.); 4) a state government employee; 5) a federal government employee; 6) self-employed in own not incorporated business, professional practice, or farm; 7) self-employed in own incorporated business, professional practice, or farm; 8) working without pay in a family business or farm. (American Community Survey)

Conventional Loan Application. Loan granted, applied for, or purchased was conventional, not government-guaranteed or government-insured. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

Earnings. Wages/salaried income and net income from self-employment before deductions (social security, 401K, etc.) are removed. (American Community Survey) ³⁴

Educational attainment. Highest degree or level of school completed. Educational attainment data is tabulated for people 18 years old and over. Respondents are classified according to the highest degree received or the highest level of school completed.

 

• High School Graduate. This educational attainment level includes all persons who have a high school diploma or its equivalent. People who reported completing the 12th grade but not receiving a diploma are not included.

 

• College Graduate. This educational attainment level includes people who have received a full four-year college, university, or professional degree.

 

• Not Enrolled. This category includes people of compulsory school attendance age or above who were not enrolled in school and were not high school graduates. These people may be referred to as “high school dropouts.” There is no restriction on when they “dropped out” of school; therefore, they may have dropped out before high school and never attended high school.(American Community Survey)

Employed Persons. Persons 16 years and over who are employed. Employed persons includes the civilian noninstitutional population who, during the reference week, (a) did any work at all (at least one hour) as paid employees; worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of the family; and (b) all those who were not working but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Each employed person is counted only once, even if he or she holds more than one job. Excluded are persons whose only activity consisted of work around their own house (painting, repairing, or own home housework) or volunteer work for religious, charitable, and other organizations. (Bureau of Labor Statistics LAUS)

Family Household (Family). A householder and one or more people living in the same household who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. All people in a household who are related to the householder are regarded as members of his or her family. A family household may contain people not related to the householder, but those people are not included as part of the householder’s family in census tabulations. Thus, the number of family households is equal to the number of families, but family households may include more members than do families. A household can contain only one family for purposes of census tabulations. Not all households contain families since a household may be comprised of a group of unrelated people or one person living alone –these are called nonfamily households. Same-sex unmarried partner households are included in the family households category only if there is at least one additional person related to the householder by birth or adoption.(Census of Population and Housing)

Gross Rent. Contract rent plus the estimated average monthly cost of utilities and fuels if these are paid by the renter, or paid for the renter by someone else. Gross rent is intended to eliminate differentials that result from varying practices with respect to the inclusion of utilities and fuels as part of the rental payment.(American Community Survey)

High-Cost Mortgage Loan. Consumer credit transaction secured by the consumer’s principal dwelling with an annual percentage rate that exceeds the average prime offer rate for a comparable transaction as of the date the interest rate is set by 1.5 or more percentage points for loans secured by a first lien on a dwelling, or by 3.5 or more percentage points for loans secured by a subordinate lien on a dwelling. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act /Section 226.35(a) of Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z))

Hispanic or Latino. Those who classify themselves in one of the specific Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish categories listed on the questionnaire (“Mexican,” “Puerto Rican,” or “Cuban”) as well as those who indicate that they are of “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.” People who do not identify with one of the specific origins listed on the questionnaire but indicate that they are of “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin” are those whose origins are from Spain, the Spanish-speaking countries of Central or South America, or the Dominican Republic. Up to two write-in responses to the “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin” category are coded. Origin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States. People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race.(Census of Population and Housing)

Home Improvement Loan. Any dwelling-secured loan to be used, at least in part, for repairing, rehabilitating, remodeling, or improving a dwelling or the real property on which the dwelling is located, and any non-dwelling-secured loan that is to be used, at least in part, for one or more of those purposes and that is classified as a home improvement loan by the lending institution. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

Homeless. A person experiencing homelessness lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. (HUD’s Point-in-Time Count and Housing Inventory Count)

Home Purchase Loan. Any loan secured by and made for the purpose of purchasing a dwelling. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

Home Refinance Loan. Any dwelling-secured loan that replaces and satisfies another dwelling-secured loan to the same borrower. The purpose of the loan being refinanced is not relevant to determining whether the new loan is a refinancing for HMDA purposes. Nor is the borrower’s intended use of any additional cash borrowed relevant to determining whether the loan is a refinancing, though the borrower’s intended use of the funds could make the transaction a home improvement loan or a home purchase loan. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

House Heating Fuel. The type of fuel used most to heat the house, apartment, or mobile home. House heating fuel provides information on energy supply and consumption. Heating fuel is categorized on the ACS questionnaire as follows: utility gas; bottled, tank, or LP gas; electricity; fuel oil, kerosene; coal or coke; wood; solar energy; other fuel; no fuel used.(American Community Survey)

Household. Includes all people who occupy a housing unit, including the householder, occupants related to the householder, and lodgers, roomers, boarders. (American Community Survey/Census of Population and Housing)

Housing Cost Burden. Measure of housing costs as a percentage of income. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has defined moderate cost burdens as those between 30 percent and 50 percent of income, and severe cost burdens as those above 50 percent of income. Percent of income paid for housing is, at best, a rough measure of affordability, but its use has become widespread for several reasons. First, it is relatively simple to grasp and to calculate. Second, 30 percent of income has become the standard that housing subsidy programs require households to pay when living in subsidized housing.

Data for monthly housing costs as a percentage of household income is developed from a distribution of “Selected Monthly Owner Costs as a Percentage of Household Income” for owner-occupied and “Gross Rent as a Percentage of Household Income” for renter-occupied units. The owner-occupied categories are further separated into those with a mortgage and those without a mortgage. (American Community Survey)

Housing Unit. A house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is occupied (or, if vacant, intended for occupancy) as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live separately from any other individuals in the building and which have direct access from outside the building or through a common hall. For vacant units, the criteria of separateness and direct access are applied to the intended occupants whenever possible. If that information cannot be obtained, the criteria are applied to the previous occupants. Both occupied and vacant housing units are included in the housing unit inventory.(American Community Survey/Census of Population and Housing)

Income. Sum of the amounts reported separately for wage or salary income; net self-employment income; interest, dividends, or net rental or royalty income or income from estates and trusts; Social Security or railroad retirement income; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); public assistance or welfare payments; retirement, survivor, or disability pensions; and all other income. Income is only calculated for persons aged 15 and over. Receipts from the following sources are not included as income: capital gains, money received from the sale of property (unless the recipient was engaged in the business of selling such property); the value of income “in kind” from food stamps, public housing subsidies, medical care, employer contributions for individuals, etc.; withdrawal of bank deposits; money borrowed; tax refunds; exchange of money between relatives living in the same household; gifts and lump-sum inheritances, insurance payments, and other types of lump-sum receipts. (American Community Survey)

Income of Household. Includes the income of the householder and all other individuals 15 years old and over in the household, whether they are related to the householder or not. Although the household income statistics cover the past 12 months, they are characteristics of individuals and the composition of households at the time of interview. (American Community Survey)

Industry. Type of business conducted by a person’s employing organization. These questions were asked for all people 15 years old and over who had worked in the past five years. For employed people, the data refers to the person’s job during the previous week. For those who worked two or more jobs, the data refers to the job where the person worked the greatest number of hours. For unemployed people and people who are not currently employed but report having a job within the last five years, the data refers to their last job.(American Community Survey)

Kitchen Facilities. A unit has complete kitchen facilities when it has all three of the following facilities: (1) a sink with a faucet, (2) a stove or range, and (3) a refrigerator. All kitchen facilities must be located in the house, apartment, or mobile home, but they need not be in the same room. A housing unit having only a microwave or portable heating equipment such as a hot plate or camping stove is not considered as having complete kitchen facilities. An icebox is not considered to be a refrigerator. (American Community Survey)

Labor Force. Sum of employed and unemployed persons. The labor force participation rate is the labor force as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS)

Loan Application. Mortgage loan applications reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. HMDA applications are bank-reported records with one of the following actions taken: origination, approved but not accepted, denied, application withdrawn by applicant, or file closed for incompleteness. All loan purchases (loans one bank buys from another institution) and preapproval requests (those which do not become applications) are removed. The approach is designed to consider only home loan records that result in an application and is the method the CFPB employs in its reviews of HMDA data. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

Loan Denial. Loan application was denied by the financial institution. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

Loan Origination. Loan application was originated by the financial institution. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

Loan Purpose. Indicates whether the purpose of the loan or application was for home purchase, home improvement, refinancing, or reverse mortgage (beginning in 2018 this data is available). (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

Loan Type. Indicates whether the loan granted, applied for, or purchased was conventional, government-guaranteed, or government-insured. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

Manufactured/Mobile Home. A factory-built housing unit that was originally constructed to be towed to the construction site on its own chassis. Manufactured/mobile homes in which one or more permanent rooms have been added are classified as a detached single-family home and not a

Marital Status. Status of the person at the time of interview. People 15 and over were asked whether they were “now married,” “widowed,” “divorced,” “separated,” or “never married.” People in common-law marriages were allowed to report the marital status they considered the most appropriate. Differences in the number of married males and females occur because there is no step in the weighting process to equalize the weighted estimates of husbands and wives.(American Community Survey)

Median Age. The age classification is based on the age of the person in complete years at the time of interview. Both age and date of birth are used in combination to calculate the most accurate age at the time of the interview.The median age is the age that divides the population into two equal-size groups. Half of the population is older than the median age and half is younger. Median age is based on a standard distribution of the population by single years of age and is shown to the nearest tenth of a year.(American Community Survey/Census of Population and Housing)

Median Home Value. Home value is the respondent’s estimate of how much the property (house and lot, mobile home and lot, or condominium unit) would sell for if it were for sale. If the house or mobile home was owned or being bought, but the land on which it sits was not, the respondent was asked to estimate the combined value of the house or mobile home and the land. For vacant units, value was the price asked for the property. Value was tabulated separately for all owner-occupied and vacant-for-sale housing units, as well as owner-occupied and vacant-for-sale mobile homes. The median divides the value distribution into two equal parts: one-half of the cases falling below the median value of the property and one-half above the median.(American Community Survey)

Mortgage Status. All forms of debt where an owner-occupied property is pledged as security for repayment of the debt, including deeds of trust, trust deeds, contracts to purchase, land contracts, junior mortgages, and home equity loans. A mortgage is considered a first mortgage if it has prior claim over any other mortgage or if it is the only mortgage on the property. All other mortgages (second, third, etc.) are considered junior mortgages. A home equity loan is generally a junior mortgage. If no first mortgage is reported, but a junior mortgage or home equity loan is reported, then the loan is considered a first mortgage. In most data products, the tabulations for “Selected Monthly Owner Costs” and “Selected Monthly Owner Costs as a Percentage of Household Income” usually are shown separately from units “with a mortgage” and for units “not mortgaged.” The category “not mortgaged” is comprised of housing units owned free and clear of debt. (American Community Survey)

Occupants per Room/Household Crowding. Obtained by dividing the number of people in each occupied housing unit by the number of rooms in the unit. Although the Census Bureau has no official definition of crowded units, many users consider units with more than one occupant per room to be crowded. Rural Data Central considers crowded units to be those with more than one occupant per room. (American Community Survey)

Occupation. Type of work a person does on the job. These questions were asked for all people 15 years old and over who had worked in the past five years. For employed people, the data refers to the person’s job during the previous week. For those who worked two or more jobs, the data refers to the job where the person worked the greatest number of hours. For unemployed people and people who are not currently employed but report having a job within the last five years, the data refers to their last job.(American Community Survey)

Occupied Housing Unit. A housing unit is classified as occupied if it is the current place of residence of the person or group of people living in it at the time of interview, or if the occupants are only temporarily absent from the residence for two months or less, that is, away on vacation or a business trip. If all the people staying in the unit at the time of the interview are staying there for two months or less, the unit is considered to be temporarily occupied and classified as “vacant.” The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of related or unrelated people who share living quarters. The living quarters occupied by staff personnel within any group quarters are separate housing units if they satisfy the housing unit criteria of separateness and direct access; otherwise, they are considered group quarters.(American Community Survey/Census of Population and Housing)

Open-end Home Loan. A loan secured by the home for which the principal amount of the loan can be increased using the same property as collateral. For comparison, a closed-end loan is a loan for a set amount. (All HMDA loan activity reflects closed-end loans unless otherwise stated.) Beginning in 2018, HMDA mandates the reporting of open-end loans by lenders that reach a certain threshold of activity. (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)

Owner-Occupied Housing Unit. A housing unit is owner-occupied if the owner or co-owner lives in the unit even if it is mortgaged or not fully paid for. The unit is “owned by you or someone in this household with a mortgage or loan” if it is being purchased with a mortgage or some other debt arrangement such as a deed of trust, trust deed, contract to purchase, land contract, or purchase agreement. The unit also is considered owned with a mortgage if it is built on leased land and there is a mortgage on the unit. Mobile homes occupied by owners with installment loan balances also are included in this category.

A housing unit is “owned by you or someone in this household free and clear (without a mortgage or loan)” if there is no mortgage or other similar debt on the house, apartment, or mobile home including units built on leased land if the unit is owned outright without a mortgage.(American Community Survey/Census of Population and Housing)

Plumbing Facilities. Complete plumbing facilities include: (1) hot and cold running water, (2) a flush toilet, and (3) a bathtub or shower. All three facilities must be located inside the house, apartment, or mobile home, but not necessarily in the same room. Housing units are classified as lacking complete plumbing facilities when any of the three facilities is not present. (American Community Survey).

Population. All people, male and female, child and adult, living in a given geographic area.(Census of Population and Housing/American Community Survey)

Population Change. Change in population that occurred over the previous ten-year period. For example, population change for the 2020 decennial census count captured population change between the 2010 and 2020 decennial census population counts.(Census of Population and Housing/American Community Survey)

Poverty. Poverty statistics calculated in the ACS adhere to the standards specified by the Office of Management and Budget in Statistical Policy Directive 14.³⁵The Census Bureau uses a set of dollar value thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. Further, poverty thresholds for people living alone or with nonrelatives (unrelated individuals) vary by age (under 65 years or 65 years and older). The poverty thresholds for two-person families also vary by the age of the householder. If a family’s total income is less than the dollar value of the poverty threshold, then that family and every individual in it are considered to be in poverty. Similarly, if an unrelated individual’s total income is less than the appropriate threshold, then that individual is considered to be in poverty. (American Community Survey)

Poverty Status. Determined for all people except institutionalized people, people in military group quarters, people in college dormitories, and unrelated individuals under 15 years old.(American Community Survey)

Race and Ethnicity. The Census Bureau collects race data in accordance with guidelines provided by OMB, and this data is based on self-identification. The racial categories included in the 2020 Decennial Census questionnaire generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country, and not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include racial and national origin or socio-cultural groups. People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture, such as “American Indian” and “White.” People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race.

The racial classifications used by the Census Bureau adhere to standards issued by OMB in 1997, which govern the categories used to collect and present federal data on race and ethnicity.³⁶ OMB requires five minimum categories (White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander) for race. The race categories are described below with a sixth category, “Some other race,” added with OMB approval. In addition to the five race groups, OMB also states that respondents should be offered the option of selecting one or more races.

If an individual did not provide a race response, the race or races of the householder or other household members were assigned using specific rules of precedence of household relationship. For example, if race was missing for a son or daughter in the household, then either the race or races of the householder, another child, or the spouse of the householder were assigned. If race was not reported for anyone in the household, the race or races of a householder in a previously processed household were assigned.(Census of Population and Housing)

• White -A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as “White” or report entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.

• Black or African American –A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as “Black, African American, or Negro,” or provide written entries such as African American, Afro-American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian.

• American Indian or Alaska Native –A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. It includes people who classified themselves as described below:

• • American Indian Tribe or Alaska Native -Respondents who identified themselves as “American Indian or Alaska Native” were asked to report their enrolled or principal tribe. Therefore, tribal data in tabulations reflect the entries reported on the questionnaires. Some of the entries (for example, Metlakatla Indian Community and Umatilla) represent reservations or a confederation of tribes on a reservation. The information on tribe is based on self-identification and therefore does not reflect any designation of federally or state-recognized tribe. The information for the 2020 Census was updated from 2010 to 2020 based on the annual Federal Register notice entitled “Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs,” Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, issued by OMB, and through consultation with American Indian and Alaska Native communities and leaders.

• • Asian –A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. It includes “Asian Indian,” “Chinese,” “Filipino,” “Korean,” “Japanese,” “Vietnamese,” and “Other Asian.”

• • Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander –A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicate their race as “Native Hawaiian,” “Guamanian or Chamorro,” “Samoan,” and “Other Pacific Islander.”

• • Some Other Race –Includes all other responses not included in the “White,” “Black or African American,” “American Indian or Alaska Native,” “Asian,” and “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander” race categories described above. Respondents providing write-in entries such as multiracial, mixed, interracial, or a Hispanic/Latino group (for example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) in the “Some other race” write-in space are included in this category.

• • Two or More Races –People may have chosen to provide two or more races either by checking two or more race response check boxes, by providing multiple responses, or by some combination of check boxes and write-in responses. The race response categories shown on the questionnaire are collapsed into the five minimum races identified by the OMB, and the Census Bureau’s “Some other race” category. For data product purposes, “Two or More Races” refers to combinations of two or more of the following race categories:

1. 1. White
   2. Black or African American
   3. American Indian and Alaska Native
   4. Asian
   5. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
   6. Some other race

There are 57 possible combinations involving the race categories shown above. Thus, according to this approach, a response of “White” and “Asian” was tallied as two or more races, while a response of “Japanese” and “Chinese” was not because “Japanese” and “Chinese” are both Asian responses. (Census of Population and Housing)

Renter-Occupied Housing Unit. An occupied housing unit that is not owner-occupied, whether it is rented or occupied without payment of rent. “No rent paid” units are separately identified in the rent tabulations. Such units are generally provided free by friends or relatives or in exchange for services such as resident manager, caretaker, minister, or tenant farmer. Housing units on military bases also are classified in the “no rent paid” category. (American Community Survey/Census of Population and Housing)

Rooms. The number of total rooms in a housing unit. Statistics on rooms are presented in terms of the number of housing units with a specified number of rooms. The intent of this question is to count the number of whole rooms used for living purposes. For each unit, rooms include living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, finished recreation rooms, enclosed porches suitable for year-around use, and lodgers’ rooms. Excluded are strip or Pullman kitchens, bathrooms, open porches, balconies, halls or foyers, half-rooms, utility rooms, unfinished attics or basements, or other unfinished space used for storage. A partially divided room is a separate room only if there is a partition from floor to ceiling but not if the partition consists solely of shelves or cabinets. Rooms provide the basis for estimating the amount of living and sleeping spaces within a housing unit.(American Community Survey)

Seasonal, Recreational, or Occasional Use Homes. Vacant housing units used or intended for use only in certain seasons or for weekends or other occasional use throughout the year. Seasonal units include those used for summer or winter sports or recreation, such as beach cottages and hunting cabins. Seasonal units also may include quarters for such workers as herders and loggers. (Census of Population and Housing)

Selected Monthly Owner Costs. Sum of payments for mortgages, deeds of trust, contracts to purchase, or similar debts on the property (including payments for the first mortgage, second mortgage, home equity loan, and other junior mortgages); real estate taxes; fire, hazard, and flood insurance on property; utilities; and fuels. It also includes, where appropriate, the monthly condominium fee for condominiums and mobile home costs.(American Community Survey)

Sex. A person’s biological sex.(Census of Population and Housing)

Sheltered Homelessness. People experiencing sheltered homelessness stay in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens.(HUD’s Point-in-Time and Housing Inventory)

Unemployed Persons. Persons aged 16 years and older who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the four-week period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS)

Unemployment Rate. Represents the number unemployed persons as a percent of the labor force. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS)

Units in Structure. A structure is a separate building that either has open spaces on all sides or is separated from other structures by dividing walls that extend from ground to roof. In determining the number of units in a structure, all housing units, both occupied and vacant, are counted. Stores and office space are excluded. The data is presented for the number of housing units in structures of specified type and size, not for the number of residential buildings. The units in structure provides information on the housing inventory by subdividing the inventory into one-family homes, apartments, and mobile homes. When the data is used in conjunction with tenure, year structure built, and income, units in structure serves as the basic identifier of housing used in many federal programs. Structure type is determined for occupied and vacant housing units. (American Community Survey)

• 1-Unit, Detached –This is a one-unit structure detached from any other house, that is, with open space on all four sides. Such structures are considered detached even if they have an adjoining shed or garage. A one-family house that contains a business is considered detached as long as the building has open space on all four sides. Mobile homes to which one or more permanent rooms have been added or built also are included.

• 1-Unit, Attached –This is a one-unit structure that has one or more walls extending from ground to roof separating it from adjoining structures. In row houses (sometimes called townhouses), double houses, or houses attached to nonresidential structures, each house is a separate, attached structure if the dividing or common wall goes from ground to roof.

• 2 or More Apartments –These are units in structures containing two or more housing units, further categorized as units in structures with two, three or four, five to nine, 10 to 19, 20 to 49, and 50 or more apartments.

• Mobile Home –Both occupied and vacant mobile homes to which no permanent rooms have been added are counted in this category. Mobile homes used only for business purposes or for extra sleeping space and mobile homes for sale on a dealer’s lot, at the factory, or in storage are noted in the housing inventory.

• Boat, RV, Van, Etc. –This category is for any living quarters occupied as a housing unit that does not fit the previous categories. Examples that fit this category are houseboats, railroad cars, campers, and vans. Recreational vehicles, boats, vans, tents, railroad cars, and the like are included only if they are occupied as someone’s current place of residence.

Unsheltered Homelessness. People whose primary nighttime location is a public or private place not designated for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for people (for example, the streets, vehicles, or parks).(HUD’s Point-in-Time and Housing Inventory)

USDA Section 502 Direct Loans. Cumulative number of Section 502 direct loans for the current federal fiscal year period. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

USDA Section 502 Direct Loan Obligations. Total dollar amount obligated for Section 502 direct loans for the current federal fiscal year period. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

USDA Section 502 Direct Loans Low. Cumulative number of Section 502 direct loans for low-income (50-80 percent of area median income) households for the current federal fiscal year period. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

USDA Section 502 Guaranteed Loans. Cumulative number of Section 502 guaranteed loans for households with incomes below 115 percent of AMI for the current federal fiscal year period. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

USDA Section 502 Guaranteed Loan Obligations. Total dollar amount obligated for Section 502 guaranteed loans for households with incomes below 115 percent of AMI for the current federal fiscal year period. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Vacant Housing Unit. A housing unit is vacant if no one is living in it at the time of enumeration, unless its occupants are only temporarily absent. Units temporarily occupied at the time of enumeration entirely by people who have a usual residence elsewhere are also classified as vacant. (Census of Population and Housing)

Value. Respondent’s estimate of how much the property (house and lot, mobile home and lot, or condominium unit) would sell for if it were for sale. The question was asked of housing units that were owned, being bought, vacant for sale, or sold not occupied at the time of the survey. If the house or mobile home was owned or being bought, but the land on which it sits was not, the respondent was asked to estimate the combined value of the house or mobile home and the land. For vacant units, value was the price asked for the property. Value was tabulated separately for all owner-occupied and vacant-for-sale housing units, as well as owner-occupied and vacant-for-sale mobile homes.(American Community Survey)

Year Structure Built. Year the building was first constructed, not when it was remodeled, added to, or converted. Housing units under construction are included as vacant housing if they meet the housing unit definition, that is, all exterior windows, doors, and final usable floors are in place. For mobile homes, houseboats, RVs, etc., the manufacturer’s model year was assumed to be the year built. (American Community Survey)

DATA LIMITATIONS

Census 2020 Overcount/Undercount³⁷

The Census Bureau conducts a Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) to measure the accuracy of the census by independently surveying a sample of the population. The PES’s sample size means that estimates cannot be made below the state level; the Census Bureau calculates them for states and state equivalents and for the four Census regions. The 2020 PES considered the accuracy of the census’s counts of both people and housing units.

People

The PES found that the populations of 37 states (or state equivalents) did not have estimated statistically significant undercounts or overcounts. In 15 states (or state equivalents) the population was either undercounted or overcounted. Undercounts were identified in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas. Overcounts were estimated to have occurred in Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and Utah.

Two regions had statistically significant differences. There was an estimated undercount of 1.85 percent in the South region and an estimated overcount of 1.71 percent in the Northeast region.

Historically, the decennial census has undercounted some population groups, and the 2020 count was no exception. The PES determined that the 2020 census undercounted the Black or African American population (3.30 percent), the American Indian or Alaska Native population living on a reservation (5.64 percent), the Hispanic or Latino population (4.99 percent), and people who reported being of some other race. It overcounted the Non-Hispanic White population (1.64 percent) and the Asian population (2.62 percent). It also undercounted children 0 to 17 years old (0.84 percent), particularly young children 0 to 4 years old (0.72 percent). Young children are persistently undercounted in the decennial census.

Housing Units

The PES estimated there was no net coverage error in the 2020 census’s count of U.S. housing units. It did estimate that 3.1 percent of homes, or 4.4 million units, were enumerated erroneously – that is, these units were either overcounted or undercounted – but the overcounts and undercounts balanced each other out, resulting in no net error.

Coverage errors varied by region and by state. The PES estimated a statistically significant overcount of housing units in the Northeast Region. Census counts of housing units in the Midwest, South and West did not have an estimated statistically significant undercount or overcount. Two states had a statistically significant undercount of housing units: South Carolina and Vermont. Seven states had a statistically significant overcount: Alabama, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Utah.

A statistically significant undercount was also identified in hard-to-count geographic places, which are often rural. The PES reported an undercount of 4.2 percent of homes in two types of enumeration areas: the Update Leave type and the Update Enumerate type.³⁸ Update Leave areas are those where the majority of households may not receive mail at their home’s physical location, such as small towns where mail is only delivered to post office boxes or areas recently affected by natural disasters. About 6.8 million households in the U.S. and Puerto Rico live in these places. In the Update Enumerate locations, census takers visited approximately 6,500 households and conducted the census in person. These places are primarily in remote parts of northern Maine and southeast Alaska, where it is difficult to deliver mail and the internet is not readily available.

Errors varied by tenure as well. The estimated net coverage error rate of owner-occupied housing units was not statistically significant. Rented homes had a statistically significant overcount of 0.85 percent. For vacant housing units, there was a statistically significant undercount of 2.6 percent.

Statistically significant errors occurred in measuring two types of housing structures commonly found in rural places. Small multi-unit buildings (those with two to nine units) had a statistically significant overcount of 5.1 percent. “Mobile homes and other units” had a statistically significant undercount of 4.3 percent.

The PES found varying error rates for coverage based on race or Hispanic origin of the head of household. Coverage estimates by race alone or in combination and Hispanic origin of the householder, Housing units with a householder who was Black or African American (0.87 percent), Asian (1.37 percent), Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (2.64 percent), or Some Other Race (0.58 percent) had statistically significant overcounts. The estimated coverage rate of housing units with a householder who was White, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Hispanic or Latino were not statistically different from zero.

Margin of Error in the American Community Survey³⁹

Data from the American Community Survey (ACS) is based on a sample and is subject to sampling variability. Sampling error is the uncertainty associated with an estimate that is based on data gathered from a sample of the population rather than the full population. The American Community Survey (ACS) provides users with measures of sampling error along with each published estimate. To accomplish this, all published ACS estimates are accompanied either by 90 percent margins of error or confidence intervals, both based on ACS direct variance estimates.

The margin of error is most often indicated by plus and minus signs followed by a number value. This value represents the range within which one can assert the population value will be found, according to varying levels of confidence. The margin of error gives nuance to the best guess point estimates by providing a more accurate range of data values. Adding and subtracting the margin of error to a point estimate creates the range, or the confidence interval.

Point estimates use statistical techniques, such as regression models, to infer from sample data what the actual value of the characteristic is in the population. These point estimates can be thought of as a best guess of the population characteristic value, given the available sample survey data information. As with any guess or prediction, estimates are only as reliable as the information they are based on. Estimates such as those presented in the ACS can vary in precision, especially in relationship to the overall sample size. A smaller number of sample observations leads to less accurate estimates, while a larger number of sample observations often provide more accurate estimates.

For more information of accuracy of data from the American Community Survey please consult the Census Bureau publication, ACS Design and Methodology: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/methodology/methodology_main/.

Derived Measures⁴⁰

Mean. This measure represents an arithmetic average of a set of values. It is derived by dividing the sum (or aggregate) of a group of numerical items by the total number of items in that group. For example, mean household earnings is obtained by dividing the aggregate of all earnings reported by individuals with earnings in households by the total number of households with earnings.

Median. This measure represents the middle value (if n is odd) or the average of the two middle values (if n is even) in an ordered list of n data values. The median divides the total frequency distribution into two equal parts: one-half of the cases falling below the median and one half above the median. The median is computed on the basis of the distribution as tabulated, which is sometimes more detailed than the distribution shown in specific census publications and other data products.

Interpolation. Interpolation frequently is used in calculating medians or quartiles based on interval data and in approximating standard errors from tables. Linear interpolation is used to estimate values of a function between two known values.

Percentage. This measure is calculated by taking the number of items in a group possessing a characteristic of interest and dividing by the total number of items in that group and then multiplying by 100.

Rate. This is a measure of occurrences in a given period of time divided by the possible number of occurrences during that period. Rates are sometimes presented as percentages.

NOTES