JULY 10, 2024 – The U.S. Census Bureau today released the 2023 Planning Database (PDB), which includes new 2020 Census operational data on response rates, return rates and in-processing counts.

The 2023 PDB contains a selection of housing, demographic, socioeconomic and operational data for block groups and tracts from the 2020 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics File, and 2017–2021 American Community Survey, 5-year estimates. The PDB was developed to aid survey and census planning but has a variety of uses, including:

• Identifying geographic areas for special outreach and promotional efforts.
• Examining expected survey completion rates at lower levels of geography.
• Linking PDB data with spatial map data to create thematic maps.
• Generating reports, cross tabulations and simple analyses.
• Planning interviewer-administered surveys and censuses. 

This is the first PDB release to include operational data from the 2020 Census, such as paper return rates. The operational data do not contain noise-infused counts. This release does not include the Low Response Score and the Segmentation Profile variable, both of which are planned for later releases.

To learn more about the PDB, visit the 2020 Census Operational Statistics on the Planning Database blog.

For questions or comments, contact census.pdb.questions@census.gov.

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