Data.census.gov Newsletter – January 2024

What's New?

This month you will notice enhancements on data.census.gov aimed at improving your user experience:

• Show/Hide Component Buttons for All Levels of Geographic Entities: This update aligns with the 2020 Census, allowing you to access all available data for geographic components, such as urban and rural portions of a county.
• Updated MDAT Filter by Topic to Display Accurate Variable Selection: With this update, only the variables that are compatible with your specific dataset will be returned to you. This means that duplicate and or irrelevant variables will no longer appear in the list of results.
• Updated data.census.gov Map URLs: This update restructures our map URLs to allow search engines, such as Google, to better connect with the maps found on data.census.gov.
• Technical updates to improve analytics for data.census.gov.
• More behind-the-scenes work to improve the future layout of table notes.
• Technical updates to the data.census.gov sitemap, which is used by search engines to recognize data.census.gov content.
• 18 Defect Fixes

Featured Question

How can I get data from the American Community Survey (ACS)?

• Data from the American Community Survey are available using a variety of tools, such as:

  • data.census.gov: You can find all the available data products through data.census.gov. Data.census.gov is the primary data access tool for the ACS.
  • Application Programming Interface (API): The API is a tool that programmers can use to access data more efficiently. Learn more about the API in our handbook, Using the Census Data API with the ACS: What Data Users Need to Know.
  • ACS Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files: PUMS files contain records for a subsample of persons in housing units and group quarters and information on the characteristics of these housing units and group quarters. Learn more about PUMS files in our handbook, Understanding and Using the American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample Files: What Data Users Need to Know.
  • ACS Summary File: The ACS Summary File contains the complete set of the Detailed Tables in a comma delimited file format to allow users to import these data into databases, spreadsheets, SAS datasets, and other formats. Learn more about the Summary File in our handbook, Using the American Community Survey Summary File: What Data Users Need to Know.

  • Additional guidance is available on our Resources page. If you are interested in getting email updates on data.census.gov and the Census API, subscribe here.       

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Featured Video Tutorials

Finding Geographic Information Using the Census Geocoder

Learn how to find geographic information about a given geography using the Census Geocoder. In this tutorial, our instructor will walk you through locating geographic information in the Geocoder using a physical address.

Upcoming Webinar: January 23

Data.census.gov News and Updates: January 2024

Time: 2:00 p.m. ET

Join us for this webinar where we will cover the most exciting data.census.gov updates from September to January 2024. Learn more about new features available on our data search platform, like new filter hover effects, improved ZIP download output, new functionality for table notes, and updates to mapping capabilities.

January Workshops

Join us for data.census.gov workshops. These participatory classes walk you through examples that cover the basics of using data.census.gov to find demographic and economic data. Learn more. 

Basics of Using the Microdata Access Tool in data.census.gov

Basics of Using the Census API

Advanced Usage of Data on data.census.gov

Basics of Finding Data using data.census.gov

December Releases

2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Comparison Profiles – December 7, 2023

2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Data Profiles – December 7, 2023

2022 American Community survey 5-Year Detailed Tables – December 7, 2023

2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Subject Tables – December 7, 2023

November 2023 Current Population Basic Monthly Survey – December 14, 2023

2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Migration Flows – December 19, 2023

About data.census.gov

Data.census.gov is the primary platform to access data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau. We continuously update data.census.gov  with new data from our most popular survey and programs, as well as system enhancements to improve your experience on the platform.

We’re here to help with your data needs:

• Visit our data.census.gov Resources page for educational materials
• Learn about Microdata Access and the Census Data API
• Request a data.census.gov training: 
  ced.cedsci.outreach@census.gov
• Request a training for your local area: census.askdata@census.gov
• Ask your questions: census.data@census.gov

Provide Feedback on data.census.gov

Your suggestions help determine future improvements we implement to make data.census.gov work better for you!