The American Community Survey: Efforts to Make Data Collection More Inclusive

By Meeta Anand and Caroline Medina

The American Community Survey (ACS) is the most important Census Bureau survey you’ve never heard of. This nationwide survey provides vital information on a yearly basis about the housing, employment, economic security, education, health insurance coverage, and demographic characteristics of the nation’s population and neighborhoods. These data are used to allocate trillions of dollars in federal funding, develop informed policies, conduct rigorous research, assess programs, and enforce civil rights laws that protect people from discrimination. The ACS also provides data that help to draw voting districts, support access to the ballot box, and measure voter participation, making it critical to the functioning of our democracy. Given its unique impact, it is imperative that the Census Bureau ensure the ACS collects more accurate and inclusive data about underserved communities, especially people of color, LGBTQI+ people, and people with disabilities.

The public’s full participation in the ACS is essential to ensuring that resources are equitably allocated, that policies and programs reach those in need, and that people’s civil rights are protected. Yet underserved, disenfranchised populations have historically been undercounted in the ACS, perpetuating their marginalization. The current version of the ACS also fails to fully address or recognize some characteristics that are core to many communities’ identities. Failure to ask inclusive and accurate questions about race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other basic demographic characteristics obscures the needs and experiences of underserved communities. Consequently, data equity and civil rights partners have long advocated for the Census Bureau to adopt reforms that will ensure the ACS collects more inclusive and accurate information that better reflects the diverse mosaic of identities across the nation.

In recent years, we’ve started to see important progress. The bureau just announced that it plans to adopt the newly revised federal standards for collecting race and ethnicity data in the ACS beginning in either 2026 or 2027. The new standards include changes that reflect years of research and advocacy by The Leadership Conference and a broad coalition of civil rights, data equity, and community-based organizations. The changes include a combined race and ethnicity question format and the addition of a new Middle Eastern/North African category, which will provide stakeholders with a more accurate picture of the make-up of our society across different racial and ethnic groups. While these changes are welcome, more work is needed to enhance data collection with respect to other underserved and underrepresented populations — such as LGBTQI+ people and people with disabilities — in the ACS.

Currently, like the decennial census, the ACS allows for respondents to indicate that they’re part of a same-sex cohabitating couple. Notably, that population only represents 1 in 6 LGBTQI+ adults, resulting in major information gaps that need to be addressed. That may be changing: The bureau is currently testing sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) questions in preparation to add them to the ACS in the future. Adding SOGI measures to other federally supported data collection efforts has helped to drive advocacy for policies such as those to improve economic security, develop culturally competent education curricula, and advance health equity for LGBTQI+ populations. However, the ACS is unique in both scale and impact. Ensuring inclusive and responsible SOGI data collection on the ACS would provide a more comprehensive picture of the needs and experiences of LGBTQI+ communities so they can be better reflected in policies, programs, funding investments, and enforcement of civil rights laws — including those to protect LGBTQI+ people from discrimination and ensure equal opportunity.

Additionally, the Census Bureau recently announced plans to meet with disability stakeholders to better understand the barriers in data availability and accessibility. This comes in the wake of the Census Bureau putting forth a proposal to alter questions on the ACS related to disability, a change that would have reduced the official count of disabled people by 40 percent. After significant pushback from the disability community, including advocates and researchers, the Census Bureau withdrew its proposal, opting to retain the current ACS disability questions for the time being. The upcoming meeting — as well as sustained stakeholder engagement moving forward, including through other comment opportunities — will prove critical to shaping potential revisions to these questions on the ACS in the future.

Although advancements have been made in recent years, the fight for accurate and inclusive ACS questions and data is ongoing. Conducting a successful, comprehensive ACS requires robust government investment, and members of Congress must prioritize adequate funding in the fiscal year 2025 budget and beyond. Additionally, the Census Bureau must meaningfully and strategically consult and engage with community stakeholders, researchers, and policy experts. These interactions are crucial as the bureau designs and implements efforts to improve accurate data collection about underserved populations, including people of color, LGBTQI+ people, and people with disabilities. Data equity, civil rights, and community-based organizations must also sustain outreach and educational efforts to raise awareness about the importance of completing and self-reporting demographic data on the ACS, the robust confidentiality protections that safeguard respondents’ data, and how ACS data are used in ways that affect their daily lives.

Advancing these efforts is essential to ensure one of our nation’s most impactful governmental surveys better reflects the full diversity of our population and its needs and range of life experiences — and to advance data equity for underserved communities across the country.

Meeta Anand is the senior director of the census and data equity program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Caroline Medina is the director of policy for the Whitman-Walker Institute.