Steve Doig, Arizona State Paul Overberg, USA Philadelphi a Jan. 31, 2011 ACS: Harnessing an Every-Year ‘Census’
Aug 20, 2015
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
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