The American Community Survey (ACS) is indispensable to the successful reengineering of the 2010 census design and has proven operationally feasible for nationwide implementation in 2003. To meet the challenges of rapid demographic and technological change and in response to stakeholders’ requests, Census Bureau managers have concluded that the design of the decennial census must be simplified and long form data collection must be more timely. Therefore, rather than occurring as part of the decennial census, collection of demographic and socioeconomic data will be ongoing throughout the decade via the ACS. In 2000, a critical test of operational feasibility for the ACS--the Census 2000 Supplemental Survey (C2SS)–was successfully conducted in an additional 1,203 counties nationwide.

The formal program to develop and test the ACS began in 1994. Since then, the program’s name, size, and scope have been evolving in preparation for full implementation in 2003. A series of testing activities have been occurring. The full set of testing and developmental activities starting in 1994 are referred to as the ACS development program in this report. As part of the comprehensive ACS development program, the Census Bureau has initiated a robust research and testing program examining the full range of technical, statistical, and operational issues associated with implementing the ACS. Key results will be documented in a series of reports. This is the first in the series and focuses on the desirability and operational feasibility of full implementation of the ACS.

In brief, the ACS design is an improvement over the long form decennial census offering greater flexibility in incorporating the ongoing operational improvements of survey methods. The ACS will divide a huge, nationwide workload into manageable pieces over a longer time frame. In addition to improving the decennial census design, the ACS is the most effective and efficient tool available to measure the complexities of the shifting American landscape in a timely manner. In this information-based economy, federal, state, and local decision makers, as well as private business and nonprofit organizations, need current, reliable, and comparable data to chart the future. Testing to date, including the C2SS, has demonstrated that not only is the ACS desirable, but it is also operationally feasible nationwide.