I will use the  current acronym LODES, which stands for LEHD Origin Destination Employment Statistics.

  The workplace location is NOT moved.

  The link between a workplace and a residence is Social Security Number which has been changed into a consistent different number.

  The residence location (which is taken from IRS tax forms) may be moved to protect confidentiality, but in a large majority of cases is kept within the same census tract.   No one that I know of, has looked a WHAT address people use on their IRS tax form, but we know that college age students and several other young adults are likely to retain a parent’s address, because they are moving their residence too often, or their parent’s address is considered their permanent address.    Or maybe there are some other tax (?) reasons that people prefer to use one address as their IRS address instead of another.  Maybe they have two residences but they prefer to use one for IRS because one state does not have income tax/

  Other sources for residence address  in LODES include federal benefits such as Medicare, Social Security, Veteran’s benefits, but I believe that the vast majority comes from IRS records.

The quality of the Multiple Worksite Reports (MWR is inconsistent, because it is up to each State on how much effort is used to clean these up, and it is mandatory only in some states.  Also, the method to link an individual worker to a specific worksite is IMPUTED.  Only in Minnesota are employers required to report a specific workplace location for MWR. 

In the ACS, “strange” results can also arise.  Some who lives in Arizona may report that they took a subway to work “last week” because they were working in New York City. 

  The ACS is a sample of housing unit addresses.   Workplace location is self-reported and geocoded by the Census Bureau.  Nearly 25 percent need some level of imputation.

Elaine Murakami

FHWA Office of Planning

206-220-4460 (in Seattle)

From: ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Graham, Todd
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 2:11 PM
To: 'ctpp-news@chrispy.net'; 'lindeman@nashvillempo.org'
Subject: Re: [CTPP] ACS/CTPP vs LEHD

Reading the documentation of the two data resources: always a good place to start.

At regional or state level of summary, totally different data frames is your main issue:

a. Census ACS counts workers through a household survey, relying on individually-provided info on work.  Many kinds of work are counted, including self-employment and occasional casual work. 

b. Meanwhile, the LED uses the data frame of BLS QCEW, counting wage & salary jobs that are “covered” by the Unemployment Insurance system.  In Minnesota, over 20% of BEA-counted jobs (a broader employment concept) are outside of this frame, are *not* covered, and thus not counted in LED.

At local level, there are still other issues:

a.  How well can Census ACS represent job locations?

b. And does the LED program move its workplace locations around on the map, in order to obscure exact location?

Hope that helps.  Good luck.

Todd Graham |  Principal Forecaster

Metropolitan Council  | 390 North Robert Street  |  Saint Paul, MN  55101

tel: 1+651-602-1322  |  fax: 1+651-602-1674  |  e: todd.graham@metc.state.mn.us

in: www.linkedin.com/in/toddgraham

Visit www.metrocouncil.org/data for the latest in regional information.

From: ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Lindeman, Nicholas (MPO)
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 3:22 PM
To: 'ctpp-news@ryoko.chrispy.net'
Subject: [CTPP] ACS/CTPP vs LEHD

I’ve sent the following query to both the ACS and CTPP but have not (yet) received a response. I was hoping someone on the mailing list might be able to provide assistance.

I’ve been working with Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD)in On the Map. Specifically worker inflow/outflow analysis at the county level. I’ve discovered that there is a significant difference between the LEHD data and ACS Place of Work data from the 2008-10 3-Year ACS product. I've found that for the Middle Tennessee (Nashville) region the % of workers residing outside their home county is nearly 17 percentage points higher in the LEHD data than in the ACS data. Please see the attached table.

I've been tasked with determining the reason(s) for this difference. Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated

Thank you,

Nick Lindeman

Nicholas Lindeman
Economic & Systems Data Analyst

Nashville Area MPO 
800 2nd Ave. S.

P.O. Box 196300
Nashville, TN 37219-6300
(615) 862-7198
lindeman@nashvillempo.org
http://www.nashvillempo.org

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