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Why We Ask Questions About...
Sex

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American Community Survey (ACS)
Within About the ACS
graphical representation of the population of a community

We ask a question about the sex of each person to create statistics about males and females and to present other data, such as occupation, by sex.

Local, state, tribal, and federal agencies use data about males and females to plan and fund government programs and evaluate other government programs and policies to ensure they fairly and equitably serve the needs of both populations. These statistics also help enforce laws, regulations, and policies against discrimination in government programs and in society.

Sex and Gender

While often used interchangeably, sex and gender are two distinct concepts. Sex is based on biological attributes of males and females (e.g., chromosomes, anatomy, and hormones), while gender is a social construction whereby a society or culture assigns certain tendencies or behaviors to the concepts of masculinity and femininity. Terms such as "transgender," "non-binary," and "gender nonconforming" all refer to gender, not sex. Terms such as "gay" and "lesbian" refer to sexual orientation. The American Community Survey includes a question that intends to capture current sex; there are no questions about gender, sexual orientation, or sex at birth. Respondents should respond either "male" or "female" based on how they currently identify their sex.

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.

Question as it appears on the form

We ask one question about a person's sex to better understand demographic characteristics.

Results from this question

The results from this question are compiled to provide communities with important statistics to understand changing households and plan future services. You can see some of these published statistics here for the nation, states, and your community.

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View State and Local Data for a State

View Results for a County or City / Town in (↑ change state using menu above ↑)

Data about males and females help communities:

Ensure Equal Opportunity

We ask about sex in combination with information about housing, language spoken at home, employment, and education, to help government and communities enforce laws, regulations, and policies against discrimination on the basis of sex. For example, data about males and females help enforce laws against discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972).

Understand Changes

Researchers, advocacy groups, and policymakers are interested in knowing whether people of different sex have the same opportunities in areas such as education, employment, and home ownership. For example, the National Science Foundation uses data by sex to provide information on women in the science and engineering workforce, and several agencies use this data to investigate whether women, including women who are military veterans, have similar employment opportunities as men.

Unmarried Ratio of Men to Women Aged 18 and Over

Click the image to view the interactive data visualization.

Unmarried Ratio of Men to Women Aged 18 and Over

[Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2019 American Community Survey, 1-Year estimates]

History of the sex question

The question about a person's sex originated with the 1790 Census. It was added to the ACS in 2005 when it replaced the decennial census long form.

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