Why was my address selected for the American Community Survey (ACS)?

Addresses selected for the ACS come from the Census Bureau's Master Address File (MAF). The MAF is the Census Bureau's official inventory of known living quarters and selected nonresidential units in the United States and Puerto Rico. Each address selected to be in the ACS sample is statistically and scientifically selected. Each address selected represents other households in the surrounding community. Interviewing a small sample of addresses rather than all addresses in the United States, allows the Census Bureau to measure the whole population while limiting the cost of the survey and reducing the overall impact on respondents. For more detailed information, please visit Chapter 4 of the Design and Methodology Report.