The U.S. Census Bureau will host a prerelease webinar for the 2020-2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates on Thursday, January 22, at 1 p.m. ET. The session aims to guide participants on how to access ACS data and provide advice on comparing geographies and statistics across different time periods.
The ACS offers detailed statistics about the U.S. population and housing. It covers topics such as languages spoken at home, education levels, commuting patterns, employment status, mortgage and rent information, income, poverty rates, and health insurance coverage. For many of these more than 40 topics, the ACS is the only source providing local-level estimates.
Data from this release will be made available to embargo subscribers starting Tuesday, January 27, at 10 a.m. ET. These statistics cover a wide range of geographic areas including all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, congressional and state legislative districts, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, counties, cities and towns (“places”), as well as smaller divisions like census tracts and block groups.
Embargoed access to these statistics ends Thursday, January 29 at 12:01 a.m. ET; wire services are not permitted to distribute stories or files before public release in accordance with the Census Bureau’s embargo policy. The datasets will be released publicly by Thursday, January 29 at 10 a.m. ET.
Individuals can register for embargo access through the Census Bureau’s website at www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/embargoed_releases.
Presenters for the upcoming webinar include Gretchen Gooding (chief of the American Community Survey Office Outreach and Education Branch), Vicki Mack (statistician with the American Community Survey Office), and Jewel Jordan (public affairs specialist with the Public Information Office).
The webinar will feature an online presentation paired with audio conferencing; attendees do not need to dial in separately for audio access. Credentialed media members and data users may submit questions during or after the presentation using either a Q&A feature or audio.
To register for participation in this event visit: www.census.gov/data/academy/webinars/2026/2020-2024-acs-5-year-prerelease.html
