ACS Data Users Group

I'm currently working with the ACS 2022 5-year data. In past years we could download a Appendices.xlsx file that had two important columns, "Geography Restrictions" and "Topics". But the 2022 ACS has been restructured, and I cannot find this file.

Here is a link to the FTP folder containing the 2021 file: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/sequence-based-SF/documentation/tech_docs/

And I have attached a screenshot below of the 2021 Excel file so you can see the exact layout and column names.

Does anyone know where I can find this information for the 2022 ACS data? It does not have to be an Excel file, we are just looking for the "Geography Restrictions" and "Topics" associated with each table.

Thanks so much for your help with this!

-Charles

Hi Charles,

Copied from the ACS Summary File Data page: "Starting with the 2022 data release, the Table-Based Format is the only format available.The 2021 data release was the final release of the original Sequence-Based Format; it is available for years 2005 through 2021. More information, including data, instructions and example programs are located on the ACS Summary File Sequence-Based Format page. "

There is not a 2022 Appendices file because 2022 ACS uses the table-based Summary File, not the Sequence-based Summary File.

Sounds like you aren't concerned with the summary file per se, but just looking for a resource listing geography restrictions and topics for each table. Please see the Table List for geographic restrictions. I'm unsure if any 2022 documentation has Topics listed by Table but if I find anything I'll reply back.

Best,
Caleb

FWIW, I wouldn't say it's obvious why the switch to the Table-Based Format explains why there's no need for the Appendices any more. The more relevant change is that these "Table Lists" (which are also named "DataProductList" files after you download them) came along a few years ago and now provide most of the info that the Appendices used to, aside from a sequence number, start & end positions, and the topics. The switch to the Table-Based Format means that the sequence number and start & end positions are no longer needed, but the geographic restrictions and the list of available summary levels and geographic components are still very important for summary file users. For that reason, it's problematic that there's nothing on the Table-Based Format pages that points users to the Table Lists.

When we started adding the 2022 files into IPUMS NHGIS last fall, I still had not yet encountered the Table Lists. We'd always used the Appendices instead. I recall looking for information like what the Appendices provide for quite a while before I encountered the Table Lists. It'd be great if someone at the Bureau could add a link to the Table Lists pages in a suitable place on the Table-Based Format pages.

Also, we never made use of the Topics list in the Appendices in our work, but if those would be easy to add to the Table Lists, I'd suggest re-adding them in case there are more users who are still looking for something like that.

I believe what you're looking for is in the 2022 ACS Table List. also known as the 2022_DataProductList.xlsx
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/technical-documentation/table-shells.html

The geography restrictions are in columns F & G of the 2022 Data Product List tab.

Thanks for the help everyone, I really appreciate it. We still do use the Topics, as this was a nice way to organize the data, so it would be great if you could add this column to the Table List.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your suggestions! We have updated the Table-Based SF webpages to include a link to the table list in the Getting Started Tab, and the year tabs 2021 and 2022 now contain links to their related Table List. We've talked with the developers of the Table List and moving forward we will be including the Table Topics column in the Table List, beginning with the 2023 ACS data release.

That's great, Caleb. Thanks for the quick updates!