The U.S. Census Bureau has announced it will host a prerelease webinar for the 2020-2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates on Thursday, January 22, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. The session is intended to help participants understand how to access ACS data and provide guidance on comparing geographic areas and statistics across time periods.
The ACS offers detailed information about the country’s population and housing, including data on language spoken at home, education levels, commuting patterns, employment status, mortgage and rent situations, income, poverty rates, and health insurance coverage. According to the Census Bureau, the ACS is often the only source of local estimates for many of these topics.
Statistics from this survey will be available under embargo to subscribers starting Tuesday, January 27 at 10 a.m. ET. The data will cover a range of geographic regions such as all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, congressional and state legislative districts, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, counties, places, census tracts, and block groups.
Embargoed access will end on Thursday, January 29 at 12:01 a.m. ET. During this period wire services are not allowed to distribute news stories or data files before the official public release date and time. All datasets will become publicly accessible by Thursday, January 29 at 10 a.m. ET.
Those interested in embargo access can register online at www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/embargoed_releases.
Speakers for the webinar include Gretchen Gooding (chief of the American Community Survey Office Outreach and Education Branch), Vicki Mack (statistician with the American Community Survey Office), and Jewel Jordan (public affairs specialist in the Public Information Office). The event will feature an audio conference alongside an online presentation; attendees can participate in Q&A sessions both during and after the presentation using provided features.
Registration for the webinar is available at www.census.gov/data/academy/webinars/2026/2020-2024-acs-5-year-prerelease.html.
