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Census and American Community Survey

The Decennial Census and American Community Survey (ACS) contain demographic and socioeconomic data on the US population and housing. The Census and ACS are collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. The HRS-CDR provides Census data for 1990, 2000, and 2010, and ACS data for 2008-12 and 2012-16 at the State, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), County, and Census Tract levels of analysis.

Data Summary

Dataset Name: U.S. Decennial Census and American Community Survey
Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Years: The Decennial Census is collected every ten years. The American Community Survey is collected annually, and made available in 1-year and 5-year increments depending on geographic level.
Geographies: Household; CDR uses tables provided at the census tract, county, and state levels

Suggested Citation: 

  • ACS 1 year: Jennifer Ailshire, Jong Woo Nam, Eun Young Choi. 2024. Contextual Data Resource (CDR): American Community Survey 1-year Data, 2006-2021, Version 3.0. Los Angeles, CA: USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health.
  • Census and ACS 5-year: Jennifer Ailshire, Jong Woo Nam, Eun Young Choi. 2024. Contextual Data Resource (CDR): US Decennial Census and American Community Survey Data, 1990-2021, Version 3.0. Los Angeles, CA: USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health.
  1. Ailshire, J., & García, C. (2018). Unequal Places: The Impacts of Socioeconomic and Race/Ethnic Differences in Neighborhoods. Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging, 42(2), 20–27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26556356
  2. Courtney, M. G., Roberts, J., & Godde, K. (2022). How social/environmental determinants and inflammation affect salivary telomere length among middle-older adults in the health and retirement study. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 8882. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-12742-z
  3. Courtney, M. G., Quintero, Y., & Godde, K. (2021). Assessing the roles of demographic, social, economic, environmental, health-related, and political factors on risk of osteoporosis diagnosis among older adults. Archives of Osteoporosis, 16(1), 177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-021-01042-0
  4. Guo, F., Bostean, G., Berardi, V., Velasquez, A. J., & Robinette, J. W. (2022). Obesogenic environments and cardiovascular disease: A path analysis using US nationally representative data. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 703. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13100-4
  5. Choi, Y. J., Choi, E. Y., & Ailshire, J. A. (2024). Neighborhood poverty and hopelessness in older adults: The mediating role of perceived neighborhood disorder. PLOS ONE, 19(10), e0311894. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311894
  6. Sims, K. D., Willis, M. D., Hystad, P. W., Batty, G. D., Bibbins-Domingo, K., Smit, E., & Odden, M. C. (2023). Neighborhood Characteristics and Elevated Blood Pressure in Older Adults. JAMA Network Open, 6(9), e2335534. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.35534
  7. Yu, M. Y., Velasquez, A. J., Campos, B., & Robinette, J. W. (2024). Perceived neighborhood disorder and type 2 diabetes disparities in Hispanic, Black, and White Americans. Frontiers in Public Health, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1258348
  8. Choi, E. Y., Zelinski, E. M., & Ailshire, J. (2023). Neighborhood Social Environment and Self-Perceptions of Aging. Innovation in Aging, 7(4), igad038. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad038
  9. Choi, E. Y., Lee, H., & Chang, V. W. (2023). Cumulative exposure to extreme heat and trajectories of cognitive decline among older adults in the USA. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 77(11), 728–735. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2023-220675
  10. Yannatos, I., Stites, S., Brown, R. T., & McMillan, C. T. (2023). Contributions of neighborhood social environment and air pollution exposure to Black-White disparities in epigenetic aging. PLOS ONE, 18(7), e0287112. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287112
  11. Henly, M., & Brucker, D. L. (2023). Changes in Life Satisfaction And Health for Rural and Non-rural Older Adults in the United States. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 18(4), Article 4. https://journals.brandonu.ca/jrcd/article/view/2241

Data Sources

U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Decennial Census and American Community Survey. Prepared by Social Explorer. https://www.socialexplorer.com