ACS 2000-2003

ABSTRACT

The American Community Surveys (ACS) are random samples of the entire U.S. population conducted every year, beginning in 2000. Separate segments within geographic strata of the U.S. are sampled within the various years. Taken together, the American Community Surveys will cover the entire country in a ten year period, and they are designed to replace the long form of the U.S. Census.

The current SDA file of ACS datasets includes the surveys from 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Each ACS has the following characteristics:

1. It is a national random sample of the population.
2. The data do not include persons in group quarters.
3. No place smaller than a state can be identified.
4. It is not a self-weighting sample. Weights must be used to produce accurate statistics.

All of the ACS questionnaires are very similar, and the datasets from the various years contain mostly the same variables. However, each year of the ACS contains a few questions that are unique to that year.