JULY 29, 2021 — The U.S. Census Bureau’s schedule for the release of 2020 Census redistricting data; the 2020 income, poverty and health insurance coverage statistics from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey; and the 2020 American Community Survey is as follows: 

• 2020 Census Redistricting Data Legacy Format — The Census Bureau will provide redistricting data in the legacy format that state officials have used the last two decades. These data will consist of 2020 Census population counts by race, Hispanic origin, and voting age, as well as housing unit data for counties, places, census tracts and blocks.

• National 2020 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage Statistics: Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement — Annual release of national-level income, poverty (including official 2020 poverty rate), and health insurance coverage statistics. The reports will include statistics for calendar year 2020 and compare trends with previous years.
• National 2020 Supplemental Poverty Measure Estimates: Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement — Annual release of supplemental poverty estimates for the nation and states. 

• 2020 Census Redistricting Data Easier-to-Use Format — The Census Bureau will provide states and the public with the same data released in a legacy format in August. States will receive an easier-to-use toolkit of DVDs/flash drives with integrated browsing software for official state recipients. The public will have access to the data on data.census.gov. These data will consist of the same 2020 Census population counts by race, Hispanic origin and voting age, as well as housing unit data for counties, places, census tracts and blocks.

• 2020 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Experimental Estimates — The ACS is one of the most comprehensive sources of information about the U.S. population, providing crucial demographic, social, economic and housing statistics. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted our ability to reach people and limited their ability to participate in the 2020 ACS. Therefore, instead of providing the standard 1-year data products, the Census Bureau will release a series of estimates using “experimental” weights from the 1-year data. It will also release a research paper detailing the methodology for the experimental weights.

• 2020 ACS 1-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) with Experimental Weights — The Census Bureau plans to release a 2020 ACS 1-year PUMS file containing experimental weights for research use. 
• 2016-2020 ACS 5-Year Estimates — The Census Bureau is still reviewing the quality of the 2016-2020 ACS 5-year estimates against our statistical quality standards, but tentatively plans to release the 5-year estimates.
  

• 2016-2020 ACS 5-Year Variance Replicate Estimates (VRE) — The VRE allow users to calculate margins of error when collapsing ACS data within a table or across geographies. This is dependent on the tentative release of the 2016-2020 ACS 5-Year Estimates in December. 

• 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-Year PUMS Files — This is dependent on the tentative release of the 2016-2020 ACS 5-Year Estimates in December.

The official 2020 Census redistricting data summary file will be used to redraw federal, state and local legislative districts under Public Law 94-171. The census data are used by state officials to realign congressional and state legislative districts in their states to account for population shifts since the 2010 Census. The redistricting data includes counts of population by race, ethnicity (Hispanic or Latino origin), and voting age; housing occupancy status; and group quarters population at the census block level. The data will also be available to the public at <www.data.census.gov>. 

The Current Population Survey (CPS) serves as the nation’s primary source of statistics on labor force characteristics. The Annual Social and Economic Supplement provides the official annual statistics on the nation’s poverty levels as well as statistics on income, health insurance coverage, marital status, educational attainment, employee benefits, work schedules, school enrollment, noncash benefits, and migration. The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics have conducted the CPS for more than 50 years. The statistics are used by government policymakers as important indicators of our nation’s economy and for planning and evaluating many government programs. 

The American Community Survey (ACS) provides a wide range of important statistics about people and housing for every community across the nation. The results are used by a wide variety of users from town and city planners to retailers and homebuilders. The survey is the only source of local estimates for most of the 40 topics it covers, such as income, poverty, health insurance coverage, education, occupation, language, ancestry, and housing costs. The COVID-19 pandemic posed numerous challenges to collecting ACS data in 2020, as described in our recent Adapting the American Community Survey Amid COVID-19 blog. Because of the underlying quality concerns, the Census Bureau urges caution in using the experimental estimates.

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