Census Asks to Continue Surveying 3.7 Million Households Yearly
Published Date: 5/8/2025
Notice
Summary
The Census Bureau is asking for approval to keep running the American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS), which help gather important info about millions of households and group living places. About 3.7 million people will be asked to respond, with surveys taking around 10 to 40 minutes. They’re inviting everyone to comment for 30 more days before finalizing, making sure the process stays smooth and fair without costing extra money.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
Mandatory ACS/PRCS Participation and Scale
The American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS) are mandatory under Title 13 and will ask about 3,773,997 people to respond. The average household questionnaire takes about 40 minutes, group quarters person questionnaires take about 25 minutes, reinterviews take about 10 minutes, and the program estimates an annual average of 2,457,075 burden hours with monthly frequency.
Puerto Rico Survey Lacks Internet Option
For the Puerto Rico Community Survey, the Census Bureau uses a mail strategy without references to an internet response option and sends up to five mailings to sampled Puerto Rico addresses (about 36,000 addresses in Puerto Rico and about 600 group quarters residents). If no response, selected addresses enter nonresponse follow-up by telephone or personal visit.
Nonresponse Follow-Up May Include Visits
If sampled housing units do not respond by mail, internet, or phone, some addresses are selected for nonresponse follow-up where interviews can be collected by telephone or personal visit using computer-assisted interviewing; a small sample from follow-up is recontacted for quality assurance.
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