American Community Survey 5-Year Data (2009-2023)

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American Community Survey 5-Year Data (2009-2023)

December 12, 2024

The American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey that provides data every year—giving communities the current information they need to make important decisions. The ACS covers a broad range of topics about social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics of the U.S. population.

The ACS 5-year estimates are available for the nation, all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, all congressional districts and metropolitan statistical areas, counties, places (i.e., towns or cities), ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, census tracts, and block groups.

Detailed Tables contain the most detailed estimates on all topics for all geographies. The data are presented as estimates. Detailed Tables are available down to the block group level.
Subject Tables provide a span of information on a particular ACS subject presented in the format of both estimates and percentages. Subject Tables are available down to the census tract level.
Data Profiles contain broad social, economic, housing, and demographic information. The data are presented as estimates and percentages. Data Profiles are available down to the census tract level.
Comparison Profiles are similar to Data Profiles but also include comparisons with past-year data. The current 5-year data are compared with the preceding non-overlapping 5-year data (e.g. 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates compared to 2014-2018 ACS 5-year estimates) and include statistical significance testing. Comparison Profiles are available down to the places/county subdivisions level.

To create an API call, you must enter a specific URL into the address bar of a web browser. The call will vary depending on the following factors:

Year of data release
Dataset (ACS 1-year or 5-year)
Table ID
Geography level

Please review the example API calls for each of the table types listed below and use those examples to build your API calls. API calls are also available for tables found in data.census.gov by selecting the API function in the tool bar. Visit the API Resources page for tutorial videos, workshops and other tools.

The API is one of several ways to access ACS data. Visit the ACS Data page to find all the ways to access ACS data.

2023

Comparing American Community Survey Data

ACS has non-overlapping datasets that allow comparisons of current ACS data to past ACS data. The 2019-2023 ACS 5-Year estimates can be compared with 2014-2018 ACS 5-Year estimates. For information on comparability of the 2019-2023 ACS 5-Year estimates to the 2014-2018 estimates by topic, please visit the Comparing 2023 American Community Survey Data page.

Variable Changes

Variables, and the values they represent, may change over time. Use this 2023 5YR API Changes document as a guide for which variables have changed from the prior year for 2023 ACS 5-Year Detailed Tables, Data Profiles and Subject Tables. See below for a description of each change type.

No Change - The variable has not changed from the prior year (most variables).
Updated - That variable has changed from the prior year and a matching variable for the current year has been found.
No Match - The variable has changed from the prior year and no matching or comparable variable has been found.

For table changes, check the ACS product changes webpage for source table changes.

Label Changes to 2023 ACS 5-Year Geographies

With the 2023 ACS 5-Year data now available, please note that there are label changes to some geographies found in the 2023 5-Year ACS API. While there are no underlying changes to how these geographies are defined, the change in the label does impact the syntax of the geography portion of the API queries, meaning that queries using these geographies from the 2020 5-Year ACS or earlier will not work. If you use any of these geographies in your queries, please be sure to update the geographic syntax prior to retrieving data from the 2023 5-Year ACS API.

The impacted geographies are: CLICK HERE.

2023 Table & Geography Changes

Learn more about changes to tables and geography for each American Community Survey data release.

Geography Note

The 2017-2023 ACS 5-year data products that report data related to Congressional Districts are based on the 118th Congress. The Census Bureau does not collect congressional district boundaries from the states during the congressional session that aligns with the decennial census. Additional explanation can be found in our geographic user note.

Annotation Variables

In September 2016, ACS released annotation variables that return character representations of each estimate. Many annotations return as null. However, if an annotation variable returns a value, it provides important information about the estimate or margin of error. For example, if an estimate variable (variable ending in “E”) returns “-888888888”, the annotation variable will return “(X)”. Looking at the Notes on ACS Estimates and Annotation Values, this means the estimate is not applicable or not available. For a complete list of return values and their annotations, see Notes on ACS Estimates and Annotation Values.