Census Data Profiles

Conducted by the US Census Bureau, the American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey that provides updated data every year. This provides communities current information needed to plan investments and services. The ACS covers a broad range of topics about social, economic, demographic, and housing characteristics of the U.S. population.

The 5-year estimates from the ACS are “period” estimates that represent data collected over a set time frame. The primary advantage of using multiyear estimates is the increased statistical reliability of the data for less populated areas and small population subgroups. Another advantage of using ACS 5-year estimates is also their availability for smaller census areas. Annual ACS data are only available for larger jurisdictions (over 65,000 people).

The ACS data provides objective estimations on several important aspects of housing markets and for conducting housing needs assessments. These include:

Demographic – Including estimates of total population, population by age, population by race and ethnicity, and numbers of housing units

Economic – Information on median household and family income, poverty status, employment characteristics, and commuting patterns

Housing – Information on housing by tenure of householder, selected monthly owner costs, estimated rents, and housing costs as a percentage of income

Social – Information on the composition of households, marital status, country of origin and ancestry, school enrollment, educational attainment, and disability status

Data from the ACS are provided below for all counties and all “places” within the State of Washington, including cities and Census-designated places. The data are updated when the Census Bureau releases new reports (in December of each year for the previous year’s 5-year data).