American Community Survey (ACS) Data Key

Survey Description

The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual dataset collected by the US Census Bureau each year. The ACS collects social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics about our nation’s states -- helping politicians, businesses, and more understand the communities that they serve. Participating in these surveys plays an essential role to direct efforts at improvement.

Data Description

For each state, there are two datasets representing survey results about households and about people (found on two different tabs in the sheet). Each row in each dataset represents a single person or single household. The features (columns) available for each dataset are different and described below.
Note:  This data is from 2023.

Person Features

1. AgeInYears

1. Age of person in years

2. TravelTimeToWorkInMinutes

1. Travel time to work in minutes (None if not employed)

3. NumberOfPeopleInCarpool

1. Number of people in shared care to work (1 means they drove alone, none means not employed)

4. HoursWorkedWeeklyInPastYear

1. Mean number of hours worked in a week in the past year

5. TotalIncomeInDollars

1. Total income from wages or salary in the past year in dollars
   

Household Features

1. NumberOfPeopleInHousehold        

1. Total number of people in the household (including children)

2. NumberOfChildrenInHousehold

1. The number of children (< 18 years old) in the household

3. NumberOfPersonsInFamily

1. The number of people in the household related to the person filling out the form.

4. NumberOfRooms

1. Number of rooms in the house, apartment, or mobile home.

5. NumberOfBedrooms

1. Number of bedrooms in the house, apartment, or mobile home.

6. WaterCostInDollars

1. Annual water cost in dollars

7. MonthlyElectricityCostInDollars

1. Cost of electricity for the household last month

8. FireHazardFloodInsuranceYearlyCostInDollars

1. Yearly cost of fire, hazard, and/or, flood insurance in dollars

9. MonthlyRentInDollars

1. IF the house, apartment, or mobile home is being rented, the monthly rental fee.

10. GrossRentAsPercentOfIncome

1. Gross rent (including cost of utilities) divided by total household income

11. CondoFeeInDollars

1. IF the house, apartment, or mobile home is part of a condominium, the monthly condominium fee in dollars

12. MonthlyMortgagePaymentInDollars

1. IF the property is owned or are being bought, its regular monthly mortgage payment.

13. PropertyValueInDollars

1. IF the property is owned or are being bought, how much the owner thinks it would sell for if it were for sale.

14. YearlyPropertyTaxes

1. yearly real estate taxes

Questions For Your Own Survey

You will now collect your own survey! You will choose from the list of questions below and we will be able to compare your own local community with a state of your choice. Not everyone will be comfortable disclosing certain details about themselves such as their income so you may choose to not ask or simply leave the field blank if they are uncomfortable. Make sure to name your headers exactly as listed in red so that we will be able to directly compare with the ACS data.

• 'AgeInYears', What is your current age in years?
• 'TravelTimeToWorkInMinutes', How many minutes did it usually take you to get from home to work LAST WEEK?
• 'NumberOfPeopleInCarpool', IF you got to work LAST WEEK in a car, truck, or van, how many people, including yourself, usually rode to work in that vehicle?
• 'HoursWorkedWeeklyInPastYear', - During the PAST 12 MONTHS, in the WEEKS WORKED, how many hours did you work each WEEK?
• 'TotalIncomeInDollars' What was your total income during the PAST 12 MONTHS?
• 'NumberOfPeopleInHousehold', - How many people are living or staying at your address? (INCLUDE yourself and everyone else who is living or staying there for more than 2 months, INCLUDE anyone else staying there who does not have another place to stay even if they are there for 2 months or less, DO NOT INCLUDE anyone who is living somewhere else for more than 2 months, such as a college student living away or someone in the Armed Forces on deployment)
• 'NumberOfChildrenInHousehold', - Of the people living or staying at your address, how many are under 18 years of age?
• 'NumberOfPersonsInFamily', - Of the people living or staying at your address, how many are related to you (include yourself)?
• 'NumberOfRooms', - How many separate rooms are in this house, apartment, or mobile home? (Rooms must be separated by built-in archways or walls that extend from floor to ceiling. INCLUDE bedrooms, kitchens, etc. EXCLUDE bathrooms, porches, balconies, foyers, halls, or unfinished basements.)
• 'NumberOfBedrooms', - How many of these rooms are bedrooms?
• 'YearlyWaterCostInDollars',  - IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS, what was the cost of water and sewer for this house, apartment, or mobile home?
• 'MonthlyElectricityCostInDollars', - LAST MONTH, what was the cost of electricity for this house, apartment, or mobile home?
• 'FireHazardFloodInsuranceYearlyCostInDollars', - IF you own or are buying this property, what is the annual payment for fire, hazard, and flood insurance on this property?
• 'MonthlyRentInDollars',  - IF you are a renter, what is the monthly fee for this house, apartment, or mobile home?
• 'CondoFeeInDollars', - IF this house, apartment, or mobile home is part of a condominium, what is the monthly condominium fee? (For renters, only answer if you pay the condominium fee in addition to your rent)
• 'MonthlyMortgagePaymentInDollars', - IF you own or are buying this property, how much is the regular monthly mortgage payment on this property?
• 'PropertyValueInDollars', -  IF you own or are buying this property, about how much do you think this house and lot, apartment, or mobile home (and lot, if owned) would sell for if it were for sale?
• 'YearlyPropertyTaxes', - IF you own this property, how much do you pay yearly in property taxes?

Note: These questions do not directly match the ACS survey questions because of different structures of the survey but they collect the same information.