ACS Data Users Group

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  • 1.  Data Availability after Factfinder Shutdown on March 31, 2020

    Posted 02-25-2020 09:13 AM

    Having read the announcement about the effect of the Factfinder shutdown on future data availability, I have the following questions:

    • "There are some historical files that are not compatible with the new platform. The incompatible files are all of the Subject Tables and Comparison Profiles prior to 2010, as well as the 2005 and 2006 Selected Population Profiles" - does this mean that these materials are NOT available through the FTP site now or after March 31?
    • Will the ACS materials currently on the FTP site remain available after March 31?
    • Are there any plans to migrate any of the pre-2010 ACS materials to data.census.gov at a latter date?



  • 2.  RE: Data Availability after Factfinder Shutdown on March 31, 2020

    Posted 02-25-2020 12:15 PM
    Great questions! I would like to add one. There is no mention of Data Profiles in the announcement. Almost all the data from the Data Profiles prior to 2010 is available through API, but not through FTP. Are there plans to make data from the Data Profiles available through FTP?


  • 3.  RE: Data Availability after Factfinder Shutdown on March 31, 2020

    Posted 02-26-2020 02:15 PM
    Hi Jan,

    Thanks for your follow up questions as well. Currently, there are no plans at this time to make the Data Profiles available through the FTP site.

    Best,
    Gretchen


  • 4.  RE: Data Availability after Factfinder Shutdown on March 31, 2020

    Posted 02-26-2020 02:13 PM

    Hi Cliff,

    Thanks for your follow up questions. I reached out to colleagues, and here's what I can report back:

    • The incompatible files are currently not available through the FTP site. We want to ensure we meet the needs of our data users and are looking into various options to provide our historical files. I hope to have additional updates about this effort soon.
    • Yes, the ACS materials currently on the FTP site will remain available after March 31. The FTP site is not shutting down.
    • We are looking into the feasibility of migrating the pre-2010 ACS data into data.census.gov at a later date. This is a time intensive effort on our end. Our programming staff would need to make sure the data and metadata are correctly formatted in order to make sure that everything renders correctly in data.census.gov, and the subject matter analysts would also need to review and verify that the files are rendering correctly in data.census.gov.

    Best,

    Gretchen