Census Bureau: Release Schedule for Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Statistics

JULY 31, 2017 — The U.S. Census Bureau schedule for the release of the 2016 income, poverty and health insurance coverage statistics from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey and the 2016 American Community Survey is as follows:

• National 2016 income, poverty and health insurance coverage statistics: Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement — Annual release of national-level income, poverty and health insurance coverage statistics. The reports will include statistics for calendar year 2016 and compare trends with previous years.
• State-level 2016 health insurance coverage statistics: American Community Survey — The health insurance report will include tables showing state-level coverage and trends between 2008 and 2016.
• National 2016 Supplemental Poverty Measure: Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement — Annual release of supplemental poverty estimates for the nation and states.

• 2016 American Community Survey — Statistics on numerous demographic, social, economic and housing characteristics, including language spoken at home, educational attainment, commute to work, employment, mortgage status and rent, as well as income, poverty and health insurance coverage will be available. Statistics will be available for geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more. Embargo subscribers can access these statistics beginning at noon EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 12, for release at 12:01 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 14.
• New language tables released — The U.S. Census Bureau is releasing a new language code table with the release of the 2016 American Community Survey estimates in September 2017. Languages are currently grouped in the American FactFinder tool in Table B16001 that tabulates languages based on the top 39 language categories. The languages of Haitian, Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil are being added into the table where they previously fell under the “French Creole,” “Other Indic languages” and “Other Asian languages” categories. Data on these languages will soon be accessible through American FactFinder and the Census Bureau’s application programming interface. The estimates of Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil speakers are currently available in the American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample for the nation, states and many counties and metropolitan areas.

• 2016 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample — The Public Use Microdata Sample files will be released and will provide a 1 percent sample of the U.S. population for users to create their own tabulations.
  • New language codes — The dataset will have new codes for languages that have previously not been available. For the first time, American Community Survey data will have codes for Somali, Oromo, Tigrinya, Yoruba, Igbo and other African languages that were previously grouped together. Those and other languages from Dari to Marshallese have been added to the Public Use Microdata Sample dataset.
• 2016 supplemental estimates — This product consists of 59 detailed tables tabulated on the 2016 American Community Survey microdata for geographies with populations of 20,000 or more.

• 2012-2016 American Community Survey — The statistics derived from five years of data collection cover all geographic areas regardless of size, down to the block-group level. Users will be able to compare two nonoverlapping five-year periods (2007-2011 and 2012-2016). Embargo subscribers can access these statistics beginning at 10 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, Dec. 5, for release at 12:01 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 7.

• 2012-2016 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample — The Public Use Microdata Sample files provide a 5 percent sample of the U.S. population for users to create their own tabulations.
• 2012-2016 replicate tables — This product provides expanded versions of 107 detailed tables that are published in American FactFinder. In addition to the published estimates and margins of error, 80 replicates for variance calculations are also provided. This product is intended for advanced users and will allow them to calculate the margins of error when aggregating across geographies or collapsing categories within tables without using approximation formulas. The replicate tables will be released on the FTP site with links available on American FactFinder.
• Puerto Rico Community Survey — The Spanish language 2016 and 2012-2016 Puerto Rico Community Survey will be available in American FactFinder.

In July, the Census Bureau released new American Community Survey statistics for detailed race, Hispanic origin, ancestry, and tribal population groups. These statistics, available from the Selected Population Tables and American Indian and Alaska Native Tables, are based on the 2011-2015 American Community Survey and provide the greatest level of statistical information for detailed population groups.

Estimates from this special data release provide social, economic, demographic, and housing characteristics for detailed population groups using lower minimum population requirements compared to the standard American Community Survey annual releases. July’s release was the first update to the data since the previous tables based on the 2006-2010 American Community Survey.

• 2011-2015 Selected Population Tables — Provide estimates for 416 race, Hispanic Origin, ancestry, and tribal population groups at numerous geographic areas, including census tracts.
• 2011-2015 American Indian and Alaska Native Tables — Provide estimates for 1,119 detailed tribes at numerous geographic areas, including Alaska Native Regional Corporations and American Indian and Alaska Native Areas.

Estimates are available through American FactFinder. Search for a detailed population group to start exploring these estimates.

This American Community Survey statistical comparison tool helps users carry out statistical testing for two or more American Community Survey estimates. The spreadsheet factors in the margin of error to determine whether the estimates are significantly different (higher or lower) from each other or are not significantly different (statistically tied) from each other. For more information on using the statistical testing tool, click here to read our blog.

The Current Population Survey serves as the nation’s primary source of statistics on labor force characteristics. The Annual Social and Economic Supplement provides the official annual statistics on the nation’s poverty levels as well as statistics on income, health insurance coverage, marital status, educational attainment, employee benefits, work schedules, school enrollment, noncash benefits and migration. The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics have conducted the Current Population Survey for more than 50 years. The statistics are used by government policymakers as important indicators of our nation’s economy and for planning and evaluating many government programs.

The American Community Survey provides a wide range of important statistics about people and housing for every community across the nation. The results are used by a wide variety of users from town and city planners to retailers and homebuilders. The survey is the only source of local estimates for most of the 40 topics it covers, such as income, poverty, health insurance coverage, education, occupation, language, ancestry and housing costs.