When should you use income and poverty estimates from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS)?
United States - Use the CPS
For national figures, we recommend using data from the CPS. The CPS is the source of official national estimates of poverty as designated by the Office of Management and Budget. It is also the source for widely used estimates of income. Some of the differences between the two sources of data (CPS and ACS) are the length and detail of questions, sample size, geography and reference period.
States - Use the CPS or the ACS
To compare states with each other, we recommend using either the CPS or the ACS. For the CPS, use 3-year averages; for the ACS, use single-year estimates. To examine the estimates for a particular state over time, for now we recommend using CPS 2-year moving averages. When the ACS is fully implemented, we expect it will be a good source of state-trend estimates.
Local Areas - Use the ACS
Currently, the ACS provides estimates of income and poverty for the nation, all states and 417 local areas (116 metropolitan areas, 233 counties and 68 places with populations of at least 250,000). We recommend you use the same data source - in this case, the ACS - when comparing estimates for local areas (metropolitan areas, counties and places) with each other or with states or the nation.
Examples of when to use CPS and ACS
Area
Comparison |
CPS |
ACS |
|---|---|---|
United States |
X |
 |
| State |
X - use 3-year averages for state-to-state comparisons |
X - for state-to-state comparisons |
United States with state |
X |
|
United States with state/metropolitan
area/county/place |
|
X |
State with metropolitan
area/county/place |
|
X |
Metropolitan area with county/place
|
|
X |
County with place |
|
X |
