Addressing the Challenges for Small-Area Data from the American Community Survey: A Look Forward

Joseph Salvo, New York City Department of City Planning

Description: The ACS is the main vehicle for providing the nation with small area socioeconomic data. This objective has been compromised by small sample sizes, which render the data unusable for many census tracts and most block groups. The Census Bureau has developed approaches aimed at improving the reliability of small area estimates. After some substantial analyses, the recent National Research Council Panel on the ACS provides a critique of these approaches and some suggested steps that the Census Bureau should consider going forward.