The 2005 American Community Survey

The American Community Survey (ACS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, is a nationwide survey that collects information on the U.S. population similar to the long form used in the 2000 Census. However, the ACS will collect and produce data every year instead of every ten years. The ACS will replace the long form in the 2010 Census.

2005 ACS data will be released in stages through November 2006. The Institute for Asian American Studies will report selected data on Asian Americans (and other major racial and ethnic groups) on this web page. Tables are listed below. Please check back for updates.

Note #1: the data for racial and ethnic groups reported in these tables refer to individuals who described themselves of one race only. The totals include all individuals.

Note #2: The number of households surveyed in the 2005 ACS has increased significantly from last year. For Massachusetts, the sample size in 2005 was 52,944 households whereas in 2004 the sample size was just 12,747 households. This means that the accuracy of the data in general has improved greatly. However, data for small population groups (such as Asian American subgroups) and for small geographical areas (such as cities and towns) may be unreliable. Therefore, IAAS will post only selected data for the state and for Boston.

For more details on the ACS, visit: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/index.html