The knock at the door or mailed survey that many San Diegans have experienced every tens years could happen yearly as the United States Census Bureau launches its American Community Survey (ACS).

The ACS will provide critical annual estimates to government agencies, grant writers, researchers, and others interested in timely demographic and population information.

As of January 2005, the ACS will be given to one in 480 San Diego households each month, and 250,000 households per month nationwide. Those receiving surveys are legally obligated to complete them as a civic responsibility.

Data for areas with populations of 65,000 or more, which would include eight cities in the San Diego region, will be available to the public in 2006. In addition, estimates for areas with populations of at least 20,000 will be released in 2008, while annual data for census tracts and block groups should be ready by 2010. Annual estimates for areas with populations greater than 250,000 are already available.

As the region’s repository for census and other demographic data, SANDAG, would like the public to know about this valuable new information source which may eventually be incorporated into the agency’s free online data products such as Profile Warehouse. “We may very well tie the ACS information in with our existing annual estimates, and if nothing else, the ACS data will be a good benchmark for gauging the accuracy of our own estimating models,” said Kristen Rohanna, an associate research analyst with SANDAG.

The ACS survey will replace the long form questionnaire that was previously given to one in six households in order to collect characteristic data. The Census 2010 will only use the short form, which is sent to everyone, and used for allocating congressional seats to states and legislative redistricting.

Project Manager:
Kristen Rohanna
619-699-6918