Research Guides: SW509: Data Sources for Community Assessment: American Community Survey

The American Community Survey

The ACS is an ongoing sample survey which began in 2005. Questions asked cover:

age
sex
race
family and relationships
income and benefits
health insurance
education
veteran status
disabilities
where you work and how you get there
where you live and how much you pay for some essentials
and other topics related to people, households, families and housing

The American Community Survey homepage
Handbooks for more specific users
Detailed Information about the ACS, including Margins of Error
Explanation of ACS Table Numbers
2010 Code List for ACS
The Census Bureau creates codes to organize responses to questions such as race, ancestry, language and occupation. This is the complete list of codes used for the 2010 ACS.

Social Explorer for ACS Data from 2005 to present

Social Explorer
This program is the easiest-to-use method for accessing and mapping decennial Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data. Unlike American Factfinder, it contains both historical and current data in one place. Currently Social Explorer has less 2010 data than American Factfinder (AFF has the 2010SF1) .

For ACS data, to access Margins of Error (MOE) in Social Explorer, make sure you are using the Census Bureau's tables. Social Explorer defaults to using their tables, which are cleaned up, easier to use versions of census data. These are appropriate for some uses, but researchers needing more authoritative data and especially those needing Margins of Error will have to switch to the ACS tables, in the tables portion of the process of selecting data in "Reports".

data.census.gov for ACS data from 2005 to present

data.census.gov is the main data portal for US Census data. It contains data from the 2010 decennial census as well as the ACS from 2010 to present. New updates to census data will be available through data.census.gov

data.census.gov
Starting in July 2019 data.census.gov is the primary way to access recent Census Bureau data. data.census.gov provides access to 2010 decennial data as well as ACS data from 2010 to present.

Last Updated: Oct 2, 2025 1:42 PM

Subjects: Course Help, Social Sciences

Tags: 509, assessment, census data, community profile, social work