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 session aims to help participants understand how to access ACS data and provide guidance on comparing statistics and geographies over time.
The ACS collects detailed information about people and housing in the United States, including data on language spoken at home, education levels, commuting patterns, employment status, mortgage or rent payments, income, poverty rates, and health insurance coverage. For many of these topics—over 40 in total—the ACS is the only source of local-level estimates.
Beginning January 27 at 10 a.m. ET, embargo subscribers will be able to access the new statistics for a range of geographic areas. These include all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, congressional and state legislative districts, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, counties, cities, census tracts, and block groups. The embargo period will last until January 29 at 12:01 a.m. ET. Distribution services are not allowed to release news stories or data files based on this information before it becomes public according to the Census Bureau’s embargo policy.
After the embargo lifts on January 29 by 10 a.m. ET, all datasets will be available to the general public.
Speakers for the webinar include Gretchen Gooding from the American Community Survey Office Outreach and Education Branch; Vicki Mack, statistician with the same office; and Jewel Jordan from the Public Information Office. The event will feature both an audio conference and an online presentation. Media representatives and other data users can ask questions using an online Q&A feature during the session or after through audio.
More details about registering for embargo access are available at www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/embargoed_releases
Those interested in joining the webinar can register at www.census.gov/data/academy/webinars/2026/2020-2024-acs-5-year-prerelease.html
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