When will the income data be released?

[johnson]

We are local planners who have used 2000 census data in the past to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of neighborhoods for various planning purposes. We can no longer rely on the outdated 2000 data and are anxious to get the new data based on the 2010 census. As I recall we did not get these data last decade until some time in 2002. Will we have to wait that long this time?

[blodgettj]

There will be no income data based on the 2010 census. The American Community Survey is the new source of such data. The decennial census now only uses a short form with 7 basic questions which result in very basic demographic tabulations. You'll be able to get data by age, race, sex, Hispanic and some stuff regarding household types. But there will be no census data related to income, education, employment, etc. No Summary File 3, no sample data.
What we have to replace SF3 is ACS-based profiles and detailed tables. But these data are available at the smaller neighborhood levels (census tracts and block groups) only as 5-year period estimates. (See http://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/5_year_preview/ for more details). We'll start seeing these data in December of this year (2010), and each year thereafter we'll get updates. But 80% of the surveys that are used to generate the summary data will be the same from one year to the next, so you will not be able to see trends right away. For example, the data we get this December will be based on surveys taken in 2005-2009; the first time we'll see these data for a non-overlapping time period will be in 2015 when we'll get the 2010-2014 period estimates. Expect lots of statistical uncertainty (high standard errors, MOEs) associated with these data. Note also that there will be no profiles and only a limited number of summary tables at the Block Group summary level.

[johnson]

What does this mean for the CAPS web application on the MCDC web site (http://mcdc.missouri.edu/websas/caps.html)? Will it go away?

[blodgettj]

There will be no income data based on the 2010 census. The American Community Survey is the new source of such data. The decennial census now only uses a short form with 7 basic questions which result in very basic demographic tabulations. You'll be able to get data by age, race, sex, Hispanic and some stuff regarding household types. But there will be no census data related to income, education, employment, etc. No Summary File 3, no sample data.
What we have to replace SF3 is ACS-based profiles and detailed tables. But these data are available at the smaller neighborhood levels (census tracts and block groups) only as 5-year period estimates. (See http://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/5_year_preview/ for more details). We'll start seeing these data in December of this year (2010), and each year thereafter we'll get updates. But 80% of the surveys that are used to generate the summary data will be the same from one year to the next, so you will not be able to see trends right away. For example, the data we get this December will be based on surveys taken in 2005-2009; the first time we'll see these data for a non-overlapping time period will be in 2015 when we'll get the 2010-2014 period estimates. Expect lots of statistical uncertainty (high standard errors, MOEs) associated with these data. Note also that there will be no profiles and only a limited number of summary tables at the Block Group summary level.

What does this mean for the CAPS web application on the MCDC web site (http://mcdc.missouri.edu/websas/caps.html)? Will it go away?

Good question. CAPS (for "Circular Area Profiling System") is based on block-group level summary data from the 2000 census SF3 product. It provides a good snapshot profile and in many urban areas it is able to produce reasonable estimates of the data for circles as small as one mile in radius. We have not yet decided exactly what we plan to do with the CAPS concept, now that we do not have the same kind of small-area data to work with. Assuming we decide to do something similar with ACS data, it will have to be 5-year period estimates data, probably based on aggregating data at the census tract (rather than block group) level. That will mean that summaries for smaller radii will not be at all reliable. We may have variations, where the user can select whether they want 2010 census data (in which case they only get basic demographics) or the more detailed information based in the 5-year ACS data. We'd be interested in hearing from users regarding what they would prefer.

[brobon]

What does this mean for the CAPS web application on the MCDC web site (http://mcdc.missouri.edu/websas/caps.html)? Will it go away?

what i can do ? please tall me.

[blodgettj]

What does this mean for the CAPS web application on the MCDC web site (http://mcdc.missouri.edu/websas/caps.html)? Will it go away?

what i can do ? please tall me.

I don't know of anything you can do except maybe express your interest. We are hoping to have a new version of CAPS that works with 2010 SF1 data by late August, early September. That, of course, does not have any income data. For that we need the upgraded CAPS that works with ACS data, as already discussed in this topic. That should be out some time in the fall.