The team at IPUMS-USA is excited to announce the release of the 2015 American Community Survey (ACS) microdata file. IPUMS USA now contains 16 years of yearly ACS microdata for analysis. For researchers, ACS data is the most frequently used IPUMS data.
The ACS replaced the long form of the decennial census following the 2000 census. It is fielded throughout each year by the U.S. Census Bureau and asks questions of households and persons in households (as well as those in group quarters such as dorms, prisons, institutions and nursing homes) similar to those asked in the long form of the census.
The data contain information on housing characteristics, household composition, and household program participation. ACS data for individuals includes basic demographic information, family interrelationships, education, employment status, occupation, income, migration information, location of workplace, transportation to work, health insurance coverage, and more.
The microdata file is a nationally representative 1% sample of the United States population. The data are anonymous but provide complete information at the individual and household level from the survey.
This data is a rich source for custom analyses and for comparisons to previous census data, made possible through the IPUMS online analysis system or by downloading the data via the IPUMS extract system and examining the data in a statistical package. Within the last year, ACS data has been used to examine the timing of workdays in the U.S., health insurance coverage and the Affordable Care Act , and changes in divorce rate since 2008.
More detailed information on specific variables available in the microdata can be found through the IPUMS extract system.