The new set of five-year American Community Survey data, 2015-2019, was released today.

This is significant in that we now have three sets of non-overlapping data.

Here’s from today’s Census Bureau release:

"Today, the release of the 2015-2019 ACS 5-year estimates marks an important milestone. We now have three sets of 5-year estimates (2005-2009, 2010-2014, and 2015-2019) that do not overlap, which provide even more data for examining trends at the local level.”

I’ve checked out some of the data using the R-package “tidycensus” and I was able to get the 5-year ACS data for all geographies, down to the census block group level. (Tracts and block groups are downloadable on a state-by-state basis with tidycensus, not for the entire USA in one fell swoop.)

(Be careful, though. Census tracts, and block groups are probably not the same (geography-wise) for all three periods.) But this is a boon if you’re tracking data for very small (<65,000 population) counties and places!!!!!

Stay safe everyone!

Chuck Purvis

Hayward, California