We have noticed there are quite a few -666666666 values in the 2018-2022 5-year ACS estimates. These are for variables that have always had values previously. For example, B19067_001 (cash public assistance income). Out of the 31,895 CDPs we are interested in 11,455 (36%) of them have a -666666666 value. Similarity, county subdivisions are at 32%, Indigenous areas are at 34%, and tracts are at 17%. We have also noticed fairly large amount of suppressed data for B19066_001 (total supplemental security income), B25064_001 (median gross rent), B25088_002 (median monthly mortgage cost), as well as others. I'm curious as to why we are just now seeing large numbers of suppressed data. I realize -666666666 means the following...
| The estimate could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations. For a ratio of medians estimate, one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution. The estimate could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations. For a ratio of medians estimate, one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution. For a 5-year median estimate, the margin of error associated with a median was larger than the median itself. |
I'm uncertain as to what changed with the 2022 5-year release that caused the -666666666 values to be published in place of estimates (all of these variables have had actual estimates in previous years). I have read through the Data Suppression information on the CB webpage, but this hasn't been updated since 2016 and doesn't provide any information on the recent change. If anyone knows what might be going on here, we would greatly appreciate any guidance or resources you might be able to provide.