A Demographic Evaluation of the Consistency of the ACS Multi-Year Estimates for the ACS Test Sites

Gregory Robinson, U.S. Census Bureau

The American Community Survey (ACS) is designed to provide current estimates of the demographic, housing, and socioeconomic characteristics of the United States population. The purpose of this presentation is to evaluate the demographic consistency of the ACS estimates, especially for demographic subgroups such as race and origin, in 34 test site counties where “multi-year” estimates have been developed. The illustrations are directed at the following question: How consistent are the ACS estimates for measuring the characteristic distribution of population and/or housing subgroups within any given year? Secondarily, we examine the stability of the time series of the ACS estimates (for single year and 3-year estimates) in measuring change over time. For selected characteristics, the ACS estimates will be compared to Census 2000 benchmarks; and the stability of each estimate will be assessed for successive time periods. Statistical and demographic measures will summarize the consistency of the estimates across demographic groups and across geography.