Census Seeks Comments on Revision of the American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Data

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The Census Bureau published a sixty-day public comment solicitation via Federal Register Notice (FRN) for proposed changes to the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS). The proposed revisions include changes to disability, educational attainment and labor force data among other categories. In particular, the FRN outlines new questions on solar panels and electric vehicles.

The Census Bureau published the sixty-day PRA notice on October 20, 2023, requesting public comment on the proposed revision of the American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community Survey, prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.

Comments are due by December 19, 2023. Please follow instructions in the FRN on providing comments.

Excerpts from the notice:

The proposed content for the 2025 ACS and PRCS reflects changes to content and instructions that were recommended as a result of the 2022 Content Test. The Census Bureau periodically conducts tests of new and revised survey content to ensure the ACS and the PRCS are meeting the data needs of its stakeholders. The primary objective of content tests is to determine whether changes to question wording, instructions, response categories, and underlying constructs improve the quality of the data collected.

The 2025 survey changes cover several topics: household roster, educational attainment, health insurance coverage, disability, and labor force questions. Additionally, three new questions are proposed to be added to the ACS and the PRCS on solar panels, electric vehicles, and sewage disposal.

The Census Bureau previously published a sixty-day notice for the American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Survey in the September 13, 2022 Federal Register.

About Other Census Data - the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

The SIPP is a household-based survey about annual and sub-annual dynamics of income, family and household content, movement into and out of government programs, and interactions of these topics in a single, unified dataset allowing for in-depth, informed analyses. Decision-makers rely on the SIPP data to provide improved and expanded information on the dynamics of income and the general economic and financial situation of the U.S. population, in the context of the household situation, which the SIPP has provided on a continuing basis since 1983.

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• Posted by: Damon Jones
• Posted in: LMI Central