When should you use income and poverty estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS)?

United States - Use the CPS
For national figures, we recommend using data from the CPS — the source of the 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. After additional years of data are collected, the ACS will also 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 422 local areas (116 metropolitan areas, 236 counties and 70 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.