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Component ID: #ti1845471061

Estimate and Annotation Values

Annotation values are character representations of estimates and have values when non-integer information needs to be represented. See the table below for a list of common Estimate/Margin of Error (E/M) values and their corresponding Annotation (EA/MA) values. Please note that ACS data may return the following in place of data.

Estimate Value Annotation Value Meaning
-999999999 N An 'N' entry in the estimate and margin of error columns indicates that data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.
-888888888 (X) An '(X)' means that the estimate is not applicable or not available.
-666666666 - A '-' entry in the estimate column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution.
-555555555 ***** A '*****' entry in the margin of error column indicates that the estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate.
-333333333 *** A '***' entry in the margin of error column indicates that the median falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate.
-222222222 ** A '**' entry in the margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.
Varies -
 A '-' entry in the estimate column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution.
Varies + A '+' following a median estimate means the median falls in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution.
* N/A An * indicates that the estimate is significantly different (at a 90% confidence level) than the estimate from the most current year. A "c" indicates the estimates for that year and the current year are both controlled; a statistical test is not appropriate.

Example #1: Estimate Annotations

Figure 5: Visual Representation of ACS 2015 1-Year variable S0101_C02_031E/A from American Factfinder

Component ID: #ti1187394671

In the example above, the variable S0101_C02_031EA returns “(X)”. Using the Estimates and Annotation Values chart, this indicates that the estimate is not applicable or not available. Since S0101_C02_031E represents the Sex Ratio (males per 100 females) and the column is for Males only this estimate is not applicable. S0101_C02_031E returns -888888888 as a caution not to use this estimate in reporting or further calculations. See Figure 5 above for a visual context for this estimate.

api.census.gov/data/2015/acs1/subject?get=NAME,S0101_C02_031E,S0101_C02_031EA,S0101_C02_031M,S0101_C02_031MA&for=us:*

Returns:

[["NAME","S0101_C02_031E","S0101_C02_031EA","S0101_C02_031M","S0101_C02_031MA","us"],

["United States","-888888888","(X)","-888888888","(X)","1"]]

 

Example #2: Statistical Significance

Figure 6: Visual Representation of ACS 2015 1-Year variable CP02_2015to2014_001SS from American Factfinder

Component ID: #ti1845471063

In the example above, the ACS 2015 1-Year variable CP02_2015to2014_001SS returns “*”. Using the Estimates and Annotation Values chart, this indicates that the 2015 estimate for Total households is significantly different when compared to the 2014 estimate.

api.census.gov/data/2015/acs1/cprofile?get=NAME,CP02_2015_001E,CP02_2014_001E,CP02_2015to2014_001SS&for=us:*

Returns:

[["NAME","CP02_2015_001E","CP02_2014_001E","CP02_2015to2014_001SS","us"],

["United States","118208250","117259427","*","1"]]

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