National Processing Center (NPC)

American Community Survey (ACS)

Purpose

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a relatively new survey that the Census Bureau has developed for the purpose of providing critical economic, social, demographic, and housing information about the communities in the United States on an annual basis rather than every 10 years.

The ACS will be mailed to a sample of households in all 3,233 U.S. counties and in Puerto Rico each month. No address will receive the survey more often than once every five years.

The ACS asks questions which are designed to manage or evaluate government programs. The public will benefit by participating in the American Community Survey because agencies will have updated information better enabling them to respond to the needs of their communities.

More Information About ACS