Implemented nationwide in 2005 and 2006, the ACS currently collects data from a representative sample of about 295,000 housing units a month, totaling about 3.54 million a year (an increase from the 2005 to 2011 sample size of approximately 250,000 housing units monthly, totaling about 3 million annually). The data are aggregated over time to produce large enough samples for reliable estimates, with longer cumulations of data necessary in less populous areas. The Bureau issues one-year estimates for the most populous areas, those with at least 65,000 people; three-year estimates for areas with 20,000 or more people; and five-year estimates for areas from the most populous to those having fewer than 20,000 residents. Although conducted separately from the once-a-decade count of the whole U.S. population, the ACS is considered a part of the decennial census program because it replaced the census long form, which covered a representative sample of housing units every 10 years from 1940 through 2000. The data served myriad governmental, business, and research purposes and were used in program formulas that determined the annual allocation of various federal funds to states and localities. ACS data, which serve the same purposes but are much more current than the long-form estimates were, are used to distribute more than $450 billion a year in funding. The first three-year period estimates, for areas with at least 20,000 people, became available in 2008. The first five-year estimates, of data gathered from 2005 through 2009, were issued in 2010. A 2006 policy statement by the Bureau pointed out that the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations require federal agencies to obtain Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval before collecting information from the public. On the long form, the Bureau could ask only for data that were
mandatory: "a current federal law ... explicitly called for the use of decennial census data for a particular federal program"; required: "it was unequivocally clear that a federal law (or implementing regulation) required the use of specific data and the decennial census was the historical or only source of data"; or programmatic: "the data were necessary for Census Bureau operational needs." Because the Bureau "did not receive a budget for a sample similar to that of the long form ... the 5-year data products cannot be as detailed for smaller geographic areas as they were in 2000." The correspondent called for the Bureau to acknowledge "openly" that, "given the smaller sample size, some ACS 5-year products cannot meet some user needs for detailed census tract and block group data." As noted previously, the ACS can ask only "necessary questions," and responses are mandatory. The decennial census is conducted under the authority of Title 13, United States Code , Sections 141 and 193. Lower mail cooperation in the 2003 voluntary survey meant a heavier workload of nonresponse follow-up by telephone. If the survey became voluntary, the Bureau concluded, maintaining the same data reliability as under the 2002 mandatory ACS would necessitate increasing the planned annual sample size from about 3 million to an estimated 3.7 million housing units, at an additional cost of at least $59.2 million per year in FY2005 dollars. The Bureau subsequently, as of FY2011, re-estimated the annual cost of a voluntary ACS at $66.5 million. They received no action beyond committee and subcommittee referrals. In the 112 th Congress, two bills would have made almost all ACS responses optional. 117 , P.L. S. 530 , the same as H.R. 1638 would have repealed the authority of the Commerce Secretary and the Census Bureau to conduct the ACS and any other surveys or censuses except the decennial census. 4660 , the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015, passed the House on May 30, 2014, with an amendment offered by Representative Poe that would have prohibited the use of funds to enforce Title 13, United States Code , Section 221, "with respect to the American Community Survey." CJS entities, along with most other federal entities, are funded through September 30, 2015, under H.R. 113-235 , the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, which did not adopt Section 545 of H.R. ACS Topics

The topics covered by the ACS are summarized below. ; whether the person was married, divorced, or widowed within the past 12 months; how many times the person has been married; and the year when he or she last married Place of birth: either the U.S. state or the place outside the 50 states Relationship: the relationship of each person listed on the ACS form to the person filling out the form; examples are husband or wife, roomer or boarder, and foster child School enrollment: whether a person attended public or private school or college in the last three months; if so, the grade or level Residence one year ago and migration: whether a person moved from one residence to another in the past year; if so, what his or her previous address was Veterans: whether and when a person served on active duty in the U.S. military, whether the person has a service-connected disability rating; if so, what it is Year of entry: the year when a person born outside the United States came to live in this country
Economic Characteristics
Class of worker: whether a person employed during the past 12 months worked for a private for-profit company, a private nonprofit organization, or federal, state, or local government; was self-employed; or was an unpaid worker for a family business or farm Labor force status: whether a person worked for pay during the past week or was on layoff from a job, whether the person was actively looking for work in the past four weeks, and when the person last worked Health insurance coverage: whether a person currently is covered by any health insurance plan, such as through a current or former employer, Medicaid, or Medicare Income: income in the past 12 months from various sources, including wages and salary, interest and dividends, and public assistance Industry: the type of activity that occurred where a person was employed during the past 12 months, such as manufacturing, retail trade, or construction Occupation: the kind of work a person did during the past 12 months, such as nursing, personnel management, or accounting Place of work and journey to work: the location where a person worked in the past week; what mode of transportation the person used to commute to work; whether the person commuted with other people in an automobile, a truck, or a van; when the person usually left home to go to work; and how many minutes the commute took Poverty: determined from income data Work status: the number of weeks a person worked during the past year, and the number of hours he or she usually worked each week
Housing Characteristics
Home heating fuel: the fuel that is used most for heating the house, apartment, or mobile home Kitchen and plumbing facilities: whether the housing unit has a sink with a faucet, hot and cold running water, a stove or range, a refrigerator, a flush toilet, and a bathtub or shower Owner statistics: the owner's mortgage payments; condominium fees; real estate taxes; payments for utilities; and payments for fire, hazard, or flood insurance Ownership and use of computers and use of the Internet by household members; how they access the Internet Renter statistics: the renter's payments for rent and utilities Rooms and bedrooms: the number of rooms in the housing unit, excluding bathrooms; the number of bedrooms Sales of agricultural products from the property in the past 12 months Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp program): whether, in the past 12 months, anyone in the household received benefits from the program Telephone service available: whether the housing unit has telephone, including cell-phone, service Tenure: whether the housing unit is rented or owned, with or without a mortgage, by someone in the household Units in structure: whether the housing structure is a mobile home, a single-family detached house, a building with two apartments, etc.
The American Community Survey (ACS), implemented nationwide in 2005 and 2006, is the U.S. Bureau of the Census's (Census Bureau's) replacement for the decennial census long form, which, from 1940 to 2000, gathered detailed socioeconomic and housing data from a representative population sample in conjunction with the once-a-decade count of all U.S. residents. Unlike the long form, with its approximately 17% sample of U.S. housing units in 2000, the ACS is a "rolling sample" or "continuous measurement" survey of about 295,000 housing units a month, totaling about 3.54 million a year (an increase from the 2005 to 2011 sample size of about 250,000 housing units monthly, totaling about 3 million annually). The data are aggregated to produce one-year, three-year, and five-year estimates. As were the long-form data, ACS estimates are used in program formulas that determine the annual allocation of certain federal funds, currently more than $450 billion, to states and localities.
The ACS has several other features in common with the long form: the topics covered are largely the same; responses are required; and the Bureau may follow up, by telephone or in-person visits, with households that do not submit completed questionnaires. The ACS is conducted under the authority of Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141 and 193; so was the long form. Title 44, Section 3501, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and its implementing regulations require federal agencies to obtain Office of Management and Budget approval before collecting information from the public. On the long form, the Bureau could gather only data that were mandatory for particular programs, required by federal law or regulations, or needed for the Bureau's operations. Likewise, the ACS can collect only necessary information.
The limited ACS sample size makes longer cumulations of data necessary to generate reliable estimates for less populous areas. Yearly estimates have been available since 2006, but only for geographic areas with 65,000 or more people. The first three-year period estimates were released in 2008 for areas with at least 20,000 people. The first five-year estimates became available in 2010 for areas from the most populous to those with fewer than 20,000 people. A concern noted by some data users is that the ACS sample size results in less detailed five-year data products for smaller geographic areas—census tracts and block groups—than were available every 10 years from the long form. A related issue is data quality, especially for small areas.
Mandatory ACS responses are an ongoing concern for some Members of Congress and their constituents. A 2003 test showed a 20.7-percentage-point drop in the overall ACS mail cooperation rate when answers were optional. The Bureau estimated in 2003 and 2004 that maintaining data reliability if the survey were voluntary would necessitate increasing the planned annual sample size from about 3 million to 3.7 million housing units, for an extra $59.2 million a year in FY2005 dollars (re-estimated at $66.5 million per year, as of FY2011). In the 113th Congress, H.R. 1078 and S. 530 would have made almost all ACS responses optional. H.R. 1638 would have repealed the authority of the Department of Commerce Secretary and the Census Bureau, a Commerce Department agency, to conduct the ACS and any other surveys or censuses except the decennial census. The bills saw no action beyond referrals. H.R. 4660, to fund the Departments of Commerce and Justice, science agencies, and related agencies (CJS) in FY2015, passed the House with an amendment (Section 545) to prevent, for example, the enforcement of any penalty for ACS nonresponse. The bill did not become law. Instead, CJS entities are funded through September 30, 2015, by P.L. 113-235, which did not adopt Section 545.