Once again, the Census Bureau's American Community Survey faced a budget challenge that could have killed it. It wasn't until a congressional conference committee hashed out details in mid-November that it was funded at sustainable levels for this year. Nothing is certain in Washington, but this means it's increasingly likely that after years in pilot, ACS finally will take wing and replace the long form of the 2010 Census.
Each year, 3 million households will get the ACS survey. Each summer, data from the preceding year will be released for big places (over 65,000 people). By summer 2008, data from 2005-07 will be released as three-year averages for places of at least 20,000 people. Finally, in summer 2010, data from 2005-09 will be released as five-year averages for places as small as census tracts (3,000 people) and in some cases block groups (600 people).
Every year after that, new annual data...