Dear Everyone: During the CTPP webinars held in May and June, and additional discussions passed along from the State Data Center listserv, questions about Income and Poverty from the American Community Survey were raised. We asked CB staff for help and they have provided these links. In the interest of time, I am passing them along to the listserv, although I have not read most of them myself. If we have specific questions, we can ask Ed Welniak at the CB for assistance. Also, if you have a recommendation for an NCHRP 08-36 research project (AASHTO Standing Committee on Planning) http://www.trb.org/trbnet/projectdisplay.asp?projectid=909 , please send your 1-page research idea to Jonette Kreideweis Jonette.kreideweis(a)dot.state.mn.us There are 2 current NCHRP 08-36 projects related to ACS in progress. See tasks 71 and 81 in the list above. When to use various demographic household survey data: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2007/guidance_acs_cps.htm http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/description.html Comparing the ACS to the CPS, "Evaluation of Income Estimates" http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/Evaluation_of_Income_Estimates31 207.doc Split panel test using previous 12 month and previous calendar year as reference periods: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/AdvMeth/Papers/ACS/Paper16.htm Another paper from 2003 ASA meetings -- http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/ACS/ASA_nelson.pdf Bruce Webster's most recent ASA paper comparing CPS and ACS income using exact match data: (See attached file: Webster 2007 ASA CPS-ACS Paper.doc) Census: Subject definitions: "For several reasons, the income data shown in census tabulations are not directly comparable with those that may be obtained from statistical summaries of income tax returns. Income, as defined for federal tax purposes, differs somewhat from the Census Bureau concept. Moreover, the coverage of income tax statistics is different because of the exemptions of people having small amounts of income and the inclusion of net capital gains in tax returns. Furthermore, members of some families file separate returns and others file joint returns; consequently, the income reporting unit is not consistently either a family or a person." Elaine Murakami FHWA Office of Planning 206-220-4460