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Department of Commerce

Why We Ask Questions About...
Acreage and Agricultural Sales

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American Community Survey (ACS)
Within About the ACS
graphical representation of a rural agricultural area

We ask about the acreage associated with houses and mobile homes, in addition to agricultural sales, to create statistics about agricultural areas and to better understand home value statistics.

Federal agencies use the data to plan government programs designed to benefit the farm population and to identify agricultural areas in order to properly distribute funding.

Your privacy concerns

We use your confidential survey answers to create statistics like those in the results below and in the full tables that contain all the data—no one is able to figure out your survey answers from the statistics we produce. The Census Bureau is legally bound to strict confidentiality requirements. Individual records are not shared with anyone, including federal agencies and law enforcement entities. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' answers with anyone—not the IRS, not the FBI, not the CIA, and not with any other government agency.

Questions as they appear on the form

We ask two questions about acreage and agricultural sales to help federal agencies estimate the farm population.

Results from these questions

We do not publish data tables based on these topics, but the results are used in formulas to estimate the farm population.

Acreage and agricultural sales data help communities:

Provide Equitable Housing Assistance

We ask about acreage and agricultural sales to help federal agencies fairly distribute funds from assistance programs. Communities may use the information to determine if they are eligible to receive funds based on its farm population and plan outreach strategies to inform eligible residents. The data also help ensure that housing assistance programs are reaching their intended populations. For example, the historical definition of Fair Market Rents, used to allocate housing assistance, has always excluded housing units on more than 10 acres because these housing units might already be benefitting from farm subsidies and have lower-than-market rents.

Support Agricultural Programs

We ask about which areas of a community are agricultural to help communities ensure eligible institutions receive funding for agricultural education and research. This funding is distributed based on a formula that uses ACS data.

Plan Community Development

Knowing the size and agricultural nature of areas of each community can help communities:

  • Understand changes in local housing markets.
  • Identify opportunities to improve tax, assistance, and zoning policies.
  • Reduce tax revenue losses from vacant or abandoned properties.

History of acreage and agricultural sales questions

Acreage and agricultural sales questions originated with the 1960 Census. They were transferred to the ACS in 2005 when it replaced the decennial census long form.

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