Guidance for SAIPE Data Users

Within Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) Program

Guidance for SAIPE Data Users

These pages provide detailed information on important statistical issues one should consider when using and making comparisons of the SAIPE estimates.

Guidance for Using SAIPE Estimates:

General Cautions About Comparing Estimates

View caution statements regarding comparing SAIPE estimates with other estimates.

Guidance for Making Year-to-Year Comparisons of SAIPE Estimates

The SAIPE program produces estimates of the significance of year-to-year changes for individual counties and states.

Quantifying Relative Error in the School District Estimates

View changes in the estimation procedures used for school district, county, and state poverty estimates for 2020 relative to the procedures used for 2019.

Quantifying Uncertainty in State and County Estimates

The model-based estimates almost certainly differ from the figures that would result from administering the ACS to all households in the nation.

Additional Information:

A Basic Explanation of Confidence Intervals

A confidence interval is a range of values that describes the uncertainty surrounding an estimate.

Estimation Strategy

Modeling income and poverty to increase precision over surveys alone.

About SAIPE Interactive Data Tool

The SAIPE Interactive Data Tool supports data lookup, downloading, mapping, and trend visualizations.

About SAIPE Model Inputs

Learn more about the surveys, censuses, and programs that contribute data and other content to SAIPE.

Directions for School District Maps

The following text provides instructions for locating school district maps.

Last Revised: November 22, 2021