The American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey that provides data every year -- giving communities the current information they need to plan investments and services. The ACS covers a broad range of topics about social, economic, demographic, and housing characteristics of the U.S. population.
The 5-year estimates from the ACS are "period" estimates that represent data collected over a period of time. The primary advantage of using multiyear estimates is the increased statistical reliability of the data for less populated areas and small population subgroups.
The 5-year estimates are available for all geographies down to the block group level. See Supported Geography for details on each product’s published summary levels. In total, there are 87 different summary levels available with over 578,000 geographic areas. Unlike the 1-year estimates, geographies do not have to meet a particular population threshold in order to be published. Detail Tables, Subject Tables, Data Profiles, and Comparison Profiles include the following geographies: nation, all states (including DC and Puerto Rico), all metropolitan areas, all congressional districts (116th congress), all counties, all places, all tracts and block groups.
For more information about the data available in the ACS, please visit the Guidance for Data Users page.
ACS has non-overlapping datasets that allow comparisons of current ACS data to past ACS data. The 2016-2020 ACS 5-Year estimates can be compared with 2011-2015 ACS 5-Year estimates. For information on comparability of the 2016-2020 ACS 5-Year estimates to the 2011-2015 estimates by topic, please visit the Comparing 2020 American Community Survey Data page.
If you have previously used variables in prior year releases, check the ACS product changes webpage for source table changes. If the variable you have been using comes from a table that has changed from the prior year, check the variables list (variables.html) and compare the variable concept and label to be sure you are requesting the correct estimate. For information on these changes, visit:
The 2016 5-Year dataset is available in a new format. For updates the U.S. Census Bureau made in June 2017, please see the following announcement describing this change. Over time, the remainder of prior year data will also be converted into this new format.