In March 2024, OMB issued the first major revision to Statistical Policy Directive 15 (SPD-15) since 1997. The changes to these standards, which govern how federal agencies collect and report race and ethnicity data, are significant and will affect virtually every federal dataset you use.
What's Changing:
- Combined question: Race and ethnicity collected in a single question, replacing the two-step format.
- New MENA category: Middle Eastern or North African added as a minimum reporting category, separate from White.
- More detail by default: Agencies must allow for and code detailed subgroup responses, not just minimum categories.
Why It Matters for Data Users:
U.S. Census Bureau research showed that more than 90% of those who identified as "some other race" identified as Hispanic or Latino on the 2020 Census ethnicity question. "Some other race" was the second largest race group in the 2020 Census, with nearly 50 million people selecting it. That's a measurement problem the new combined question is designed to fix.
The changes are also expected (based on Census testing) to increase counts of MENA, Hispanic/Latino alone, and Black or African American respondents, while decreasing "White" and "Some Other Race" responses-with implications that differ significantly by geography. Michigan, for example, has a much larger MENA population than most states, so the impact there will be greater.
These changes will introduce a structural break in race/ethnicity time series-meaning differences over time may reflect measurement changes as much as real population change.
Key Timelines:
- 2027 ACS: New question debuts; 1-year estimates released September 2028; the first 5-year estimates based entirely on the new standards won't be available until December 2032.
- 2030 Census: Will use the new combined question.
- Agency compliance deadline: OMB has now extended the agency action plan submission deadline twice, most recently to March 28, 2027.
What to Watch:
- Whether the 2027 ACS implementation proceeds as planned given Census Bureau operational pressures.
- Agency action plans as they become public-check your key data sources to see where they stand.
- The Census Bureau's Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project, which is developing the detailed code list that determines how write-in responses will be classified and tabulated in the ACS and 2030 Census.
Key Resources:
------------------------------
Mark Mather
Associate VP
PRB
------------------------------