Steve Doig, Arizona State

Paul Overberg, USA TODAY

Philadelphia

Jan. 31, 2011

ACS: Harnessing anEvery-Year ‘Census’

Good news: Every year!

Bad news: Every year!

Rich in economic/workforce data

Linkage to rich demographics

Lots of moving parts

Outline

Replaces census “long form”

250,000 HHold/month mail survey

Follow-up by phone, in person

1-, 3- and 5-year data releases

American Community Survey

Demographic: Sex, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity

Social: Education, relationship, fertility, disability, citizenship, language, migration, etc.

Questions: ACS

Economic: Income, poverty, earnings, employment, occupation, industry, workforce sector, vehicles, commuting, health insurance

Questions: ACS

Housing: Costs, utilities, structure, financing, ownership, age, heating fuel, rooms, telephone

Questions: ACS

Income types Philadelphia County

Aggregate income, prev 12 months

Estimate ($000)MOE (+/- $000)

Earnings 24,284,887 794,467

Wage or salary 23,216,222 772,013

Self-employment 1,068,661 257,103

Interest, dividends, rental 1,112,672 287,634

Social Security 2,099,291 69,933

Supplemental Security 304,961 31,395

Public assistance 119,938 13,414

Retirement 1,425,094 111,983

Class (gvt., non-profit, for-profit)

Occupation

Industry

Cross-tabbed by gender, race, etc.

Workforce makeup

Workforce makeupClass of worker, 2009 Philadelphia County

Estimate MOE (+/-)

Male: 302,508 3,293

Private for-profit wage and salary 215,497 3,393

Employee of private company 207,718 3,331

Self-employed in own incorp business 7,779 626

Private not-for-profit wage and salary 28,891 1,304

Local government 26,823 1,269

State government 5,989 525

Federal government 10,226 908

Self-employed in own not-incorp business 14,541 890

Home-based: when people from a place leave for work, how (drive alone, etc.)

Work-based: when people arrive at a place, how

Cross-tabbed by race, gender, age

Commuting: 2 views

Commuting: 2 viewsCommuting in 2009

Workers 16+

MOE (+/-)

Workers 16+

MOE (+/-)

 Living in Philadelphia

Working in Philadelphia

Total: 616,150 12,225 729,362 13,210

Car, truck, or van: 368,705 10,863 440,117 10,130

Drove alone 316,062 10,414 380,368 9,856

Carpooled: 52,643 4,909 59,749 5,066

Public transit 153,508 8,041 192,360 9,092

Bus or trolley bus 107,073 6,353 102,752 6,026

Subway or elevated 24,055 2,978 36,336 3,919

Railroad 18,853 2,805 48,897 4,081

Bicycle 13,304 2,416 13,874 2,447

Walked 53,533 5,084 52,823 5,088

Worked at home 21,156 3,690 21,156 3,690

Data suppression Population size thresholds

Statistical tests for variance

Data suppression 

B08601: Workers 16+

B08601: Drove to work

C08601: Workers 16+

C08601: Drove to work

Baldwin County - - 19,041 17,723

Barrow County - - 20,039 18,030

Bartow County 37,781 36,065 37,781 36,065

Bibb County 80,395 75,484 80,395 75,484

Bryan County - - - -

Bulloch County - - 26,669 23,840

Burke County - - 7,001 6,527

Butts County - - 7,184 6,740

Camden County - - 19,050 17,935

Carroll County 42,681 39,982 42,681 39,982

Catoosa County - - 16,012 14,918

Chattooga County - - 7,567 7,281

Cherokee County 59,447 49,371 59,447 49,371

Clarke County 72,169 64,328 72,169 64,328

ACS error margins Estimate

Margin of Error (+/-)

Total: 133,091,043 117,391

Car, truck, or van: 116,658,693 118,617

Drove alone 102,458,267 123,290

Carpooled: 14,200,426 73,423

In 2-person carpool 10,980,950 65,959

In 3-person carpool 1,911,054 27,717

In 4-person carpool 693,214 18,241

In 5- or 6-person carpool 340,448 13,844

In 7-or-more-person carpool 274,760 10,696

A helpful calculator …

Don’t use a survey for population total

Don’t make big deal of small differences

Trade some timeliness for precision?

ACS error margins

Explore – but carefully! “The ACS data are complex and cover a broad range of topics and geographic areas. Because this is a relatively new survey, many people do not fully understand how to interpret and use the ACS data. In this handbook, we have described some key mistakes to avoid and some precautions to guide you as you delve into the ACS data.

-- ACS handbook for general users