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" if 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 (reports released starting 8 months after the end of the survey year)
  
  

  Report Year	Population	Community Size	Period Estimates Cover
  2007-forward	all persons	20,000+	3 years
  2006-forward	all persons	65,000+	1 year
  2005	household population	65,000+	1 year
  2000-2004	household population	250,000+	1 year

  
   
  
• Working with ACS data
  • ACS Home Page, useful for background information and documentation like:
    • Subject Definitions
    • Geographic Coverage
    • Comparing ACS Data to Other Sources
    • ACS Compass Handbooks (each for a specific type of user)
  • SDC/BIDC Clearinghouse Tools, information about:
    • FIPS codes
    • making inflation adjustments
    • working with Margin of Error (MOE, important when making comparisons
      among geographies or over time.