American Community Survey Data on the Foreign-Born Population: PUMS Files and Detailed Tables

Alexa Kennedy-Puthoff, U.S. Census Bureau

As the planned replacement for the census long form, the American Community Survey (ACS) is poised to become the leading source of data on the foreign-born population in the United States. ACS data are available to the public in the form of data tables and population profiles ("detailed tables"), and Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files. This poster details the results from available ACS data (2000-2003) relevant to the foreign born, and provides guidance to data users regarding PUMS files. Specifically, I discuss the difference between the number of foreign born shown in pre-tabulated ACS data products (which are tabulated using U.S. Census Bureau internal files) and the number of foreign born a data user would tabulate using ACS PUMS files (which are a sample of the internal files). Selected characteristics of the foreign born are shown as well.