The U.S. Census Bureau will hold a prerelease webinar on January 22 at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the upcoming release of the 2020-2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. The event aims to guide users on how to access ACS data and provide advice on comparing different geographic areas and statistics over time.
The ACS collects data on topics such as language spoken at home, education, commuting, employment, mortgage status and rent, income, poverty, and health insurance coverage. It remains the only source for local estimates for most of these subjects.
According to the Census Bureau, embargo subscribers will be able to view the new statistics starting January 27 at 10 a.m. ET. The information will cover a range of geographic levels including 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.
The embargo period lasts until January 29 at 12:01 a.m. ET. During this time, wire services are not allowed to distribute news stories or data files before public release in accordance with the Census Bureau’s embargo policy. Public access to all datasets is scheduled for January 29 by 10 a.m. ET.
Gretchen Gooding, chief of the American Community Survey Office Outreach and Education Branch; Vicki Mack, statistician from the American Community Survey Office; and Jewel Jordan from the Public Information Office are set to participate in the webinar. Attendees can join both an audio conference and online presentation without needing to call in separately for audio. Credentialed media and data users will have opportunities to ask questions during and after the presentation.
Those interested in embargo access can register at www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/embargoed_releases. Registration for the webinar itself is available at www.census.gov/data/academy/webinars/2026/2020-2024-acs-5-year-prerelease.html.
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