The ACS is a nationwide survey, conducted on a continuous basis, for the purpose of producing an annual socio-demographic description of the population.

• Sources for Data
  

  Summary Data	Microdata Files
  American FactFinder   use "Get Detailed Data" when using data with other software;   use "Fact Sheet" for formatted community profiles.   New York City Planning Population Pages   for profiles of NYC Borough and Community Districts.	ACS PUMS website   for SAS or ASCII format.   IPUMS USA   for web data extraction interface.

  For help in choosing between summary and microdata files, refer to Census Microdata Overview
   
• Survey coverage
     For 2006 and 2005 counts are reported for communities of 65,000+.
     For 2006 and all subsequent years counts cover all persons (households and group quarters).
     For 2005 and all previous years counts only cover the household population.
     For years 2004-2000 only selected locations were surveyed and reports are for communites for 250,000+.
   
• Guidance on Comparing 2006 ACS Data Over Time
  Important information if comparing ACS and Decennial data or doing comparisons among ACS years.
   
• Subject Definitions
     a quick way of seeing what socio-demographic attributes are reported
   
• Geography Explanation
     useful to see what geographies are currently covered.
   
• ACS Home Page
     useful for background information and profile reports.