The American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey that provides data every year—giving communities the current information they need to make important decisions. The ACS covers a broad range of topics about social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics of the U.S. population.
Detailed Tables, Subject Tables, Data Profiles, and Comparison Profiles are available for the nation, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, every congressional district, every metropolitan area, all counties, all places (i.e., towns or cities), and all census tracts and block groups.
Detailed Tables contain the most detailed estimates on all topics for all geographies. The data are presented as estimates.
Subject Tables provide a span of information on a particular ACS subject presented in the format of both estimates and percentages.
Data Profiles contain broad social, economic, housing, and demographic information. The data are presented as estimates and percentages.
Comparison Profiles are similar to Data Profiles but also include comparisons with past-year data. The current 5-year data are compared with the preceding non-overlapping 5-year data (e.g. 2018-2022 ACS 5-year estimates compared to 2013-2017 ACS 5-year estimates) and include statistical significance testing.
To create an API call, you must enter a specific URL into the address bar of a web browser. The call will vary depending on the following factors:
Year of data release
Dataset (ACS 1-year or 5-year)
Table ID
Geography level
Please review the example API calls for each of the table types listed below and use those examples to build your API calls. API calls are also availablefor tables found in data.census.govby selecting the API function in the tool bar. Visit theAPI Resources pagefor tutorial videos, workshops and other tools.
The API is one of several ways to access ACS data. Visit theACS Data pageto find all the ways to access ACS data.
- 2022
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- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- More
- 2017
- 2016
- 2015
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2022
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
- 2016
- 2015
- 2014
- 2013
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2022
Variable Changes
Variables, and the values they represent, may change over time. Use this2022 5YR API Changes documentas a guide for which variables have changed from the prior year for 2022 ACS 5-Year Detailed Tables, Data Profiles and Subject Tables. See below for a description of each change type.
- No Change - The variable has not changed from the prior year (most variables).
- Updated - That variable has changed from the prior year and a matching variable for the current year has been found.
- No Match - The variable has changed from the prior year and no matching or comparable variable has been found.
For table changes, check the ACS product changes webpage for source table changes.
Label Changes to 2022 ACS 5-Year Geographies
With the 2022 ACS 5-Year data now available, please note that there are label changes to some geographies found in the 2022 5-Year ACS API. While there are no underlying changes to how these geographies are defined, the change in the label does impact the syntax of the geography portion of the API queries, meaning that queries using these geographies from the 2020 5-Year ACS or earlier will not work.If you use any of these geographies in your queries, please be sure to update the geographic syntax prior to retrieving data from the 2022 5-Year ACS API.
The impacted geographies are: CLICK HERE.
Geography Note
The 2018-2022 ACS 5-year data products that report data related to Congressional Districts are based on the 118th Congress. The Census Bureau does not collect congressional district boundaries from the states during the congressional session that aligns with the decennial census. Additional explanation can be found in our geographic user note.
Annotation Variables
In September 2016, ACS released annotation variables that return character representations of each estimate. Many annotations return as null. However, if an annotation variable returns a value, it provides important information about the estimate or margin of error. For example, if an estimate variable (variable ending in “E”) returns “-888888888”, the annotation variable will return “(X)”. Looking at the Notes on ACS Estimates and Annotation Values, this means the estimate is not applicable or not available. For a complete list of return values and their annotations, see Notes on ACS Estimates and Annotation Values.
Subject Tables
- Example Call:
- 2022 ACS Subject Tables Variables [html|xml|json]
- ACS Technical Documentation
- Examples
- Supported Geography
Data Profiles
- Example Call:
- 2022 ACS Data Profiles Variables[html|xml|json]
- ACS Technical Documentation
- Examples
- Supported Geography
Comparison Profiles
- Example Call:
- 2022 ACS Comparison Profiles Variables[html|xml|json]
- ACS Technical Documentation
- Examples
- Supported Geography
