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American Community Survey (ACS)

The American Community Survey (ACS), conducted for the first time in 2000, provides social and economic data never before available. Survey data does not take the place of the intercensus population estimates, the Current Population Survey, or Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment data, which should be considered the primary authorities on their respective data sets.

The ACS is designed to provide communities with data commonly collected in the decennial census long form (Summary File 3 or sample data), but not previously available in the years between censuses. The links provided below contain data only for the Kansas City region through 2004. In 2005 and after, data for the Peer Metros is included..

In 2005, data variables were collected and analyzed for geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more (before 2005, only areas with population of 100,000 or more produced enough data for these sample estimates.) For the first time the ACS includes school districts that match the population criteria. In 2006 data for the group quarters population was added, giving a more complete picture of the total population of an area.

Because of the growing number of geographies, starting in 2005 the profiles are presented in an index, similar to the Census 2000 Profiles, and different from prior ACS updates. There are four profiles: Demographic, Social, Economic and Housing.

As the ACS was fully implemented over the coming decade, data for smaller communities became available. For 2007, for example, in addition to the 1-Year Estimates available below, ACS also released the first 3-Year Estimates, producing tables and profiles for the first time for geographies with population of 20,000 and above. In 2010, data for areas with populations under 20,000 was first published as larger samples collected over 5 years became available. Appropriately, these are known as the ACS 5-year Estimates.

Metro Dataline will not create local data sets of the 3- or 5-Year Estimates, nor any sets for 2008 and beyond. We believe the Census Bureau's American FactFinder is an easy to use application which allows the user to create any tables and profiles needed from these new estimates (as well as many other Census data sets). As an alternative, the Missouri Census Data Center has developed an ACS Profiles website that provides the same data in a similar format, but users may find a bit friendlier.

Additionally, if a user needs quick, up-to-date data for a state, county, or town, FactFinder's lookup provides that information quickly and easily. If you want to specify a state, county, or city, just look for the grey boxes in the middle of the page named "topic or table name" and "state, county or place," and enter the topic and geography you are looking for, then click "Go." You can the select one or more from the many data sets available. The data sets also contain links ("show more") that provide greater detailed information and can be easily printed or downloaded. An option allows the user to view a narrative text profile with graphs for easy analysis.

On December 14, 2010, the Census Bureau released the 2005-2009 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates on American FactFinder, the first 5-year estimates covering all geographies down to the census tract level (Block Group level data is available only from the Download site). On American FactFinder you will find tables with social, demographic, housing, and economic data, as well as more detailed tables. If you would like more information and supporting documentation for this data release please visit the ACS web site.

MARC's Research Services staff can be of assistance to first-time users in navigating American FactFinder. Please contact the Research Services staff through the e-mail link below or by calling 816-701-8331.

Available data sets on this site (all 1-year estimates):