As part of the Census Bureau’s efforts to ensure these vital data are produced in an efficient, less burdensome manner that enhances their richness for informing policy, the Census Bureau is introducing new methods for conducting the survey. Since early October 2024, HPS content has been incorporated into a longitudinal design. The longitudinal design will benefit HPS data by allowing direct measurement of change over a much longer period of time in critical elements like spending, inflation, and other social and economic indicators of well-being. 

In January 2025, the HPS was relaunched as the Household Trends and Outlook Pulse Survey (HTOPS).  The HTOPS will continue the strong tradition of the HPS by rapidly providing insight into national events that have social and economic impacts on U.S. households. It will complement more traditional federal surveys by producing data much closer to real time as the events develop. The HTOPS will begin producing an experimental data product, like the HPS, but the goal is to produce an official data product as the methodology matures. Along with HPS content, HTOPS will enable the Census Bureau to address research and content development needs for its census and survey programs. The HTOPS will be one more tool among the Census Bureau's data collection efforts to provide the nation with quality, up-to-date information that informs our future. More information on the transition to HTOPS is available at Evolving the Household Pulse Survey.

Find more information for survey participants here.

The last data collection for Phase 4.2 of the Household Pulse Survey (HPS) started on July 23, 2024, and ended on September 16, 2024.

The HPS has been a collaborative undertaking in partnership with the following federal agencies:

The data collected enabled the Census Bureau to produce statistics at the national and state levels and for the 15 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (metro areas).

The last data release for HPS was on October 3, 2024.

In order to support the nation’s recovery and the social and economic well-being of U.S. households, we sought to know the ways emergent issues affected people’s lives and livelihoods. Data from this survey show the widespread effects of critical matters on individuals, families, and communities across the country from a social and economic perspective.

The Census Bureau and its federal statistical partners are considered the preeminent source of the nation's most important benchmark surveys.  Many of these surveys have been ongoing for more than 80 years and provide valuable insight on social and economic trends. 

The production of these benchmark surveys is by nature a highly deliberative process. The process to release the data from these surveys can take months, sometimes years, before data are made publicly available.  

The approach for the Household Pulse Survey is different: it is designed to be a short-turnaround instrument that provides valuable data with a short turn-around time. The Census Bureau is fielding the Household Pulse Survey as a part of the agency’s Experimental Data Series; as such, data products may not meet some of the Census Bureau’s statistical quality standards. Data are subject to suppression based on overall response and disclosure avoidance thresholds.