The U.S. Census Bureau is committed to producing high-quality data. The Census Bureau recognizes the critical importance of the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, in particular, on government and business decision-making and the need for quality ACS data for that purpose.
To reflect our quality standards, the Census Bureau must delay the 2016-2020 ACS 5-year data release originally targeted for December 2021. Additional time is needed to continue refining our methodology so that we can minimize the impact of nonresponse bias due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our current plan targets a March 2022 release date. We expect to provide an update in December.