American Housing Survey

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AHS Updates

The 2015 AHS National and Metropolitan summary tables have been released. They can be downloaded at:
http://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs.html

Enhanced Census AHS website

In order to provide one stop shopping for AHS data, HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau have developed a new Census AHS website. This website includes:

All AHS summary tables from 1974 - 2015
All AHS national and metropolitan samples microdata from 1974 - 2015 in both SAS and CSV format
Updated AHS documentation

All data and documentation is available on the Census website

American Housing Survey emergency preparedness infographic now available on the Census website

Introducing the 2015 American Housing Survey. A webinar held on April 26, 2017

Introducing the 2015 American Housing Survey Slides and Notes

The AHS Neighborhood Description Study

In 2017, HUD added an neighborhood description question to HUD’s 2017 American Housing Survey (AHS) asking respondents whether they considered their neighborhood to be “urban,” “suburban,” or “rural.” The AHS is the nation’s most detailed housing survey and HUD obtained responses to the neighborhood description question from nearly 76,000 households, including approximately 2,150 households in each of 25 large metropolitan areas.

The AHS Research Program

report icon AHS Components of Inventory Change (CINCH) reports
The Components of Inventory Change (CINCH) report measures changes in the characteristics of the housing stock of the United States. Using data collected from the national American Housing Survey (AHS), conducted every two years, the characteristics of individual housing units are compared across time.

report icon AHS Housing Affordability Data System
The Housing Affordability Data System (HADS) is a set of files derived from the 1985 and later national American Housing Survey (AHS) and the 2002 and later Metro AHS.

AHS Research Reports

Report Title	Category	Year
Measuring Housing Insecurity: Index Development Using American Housing Survey Data The availability of affordable and decent housing promotes individual and social well-being, as well as positive outcomes in health, educational attainment, and employment.	Research	2022
Perceptions of Drinking Water Quality—A Review of the Literature and Surveys Covering the Topic This paper reviews recent literature on water quality perceptions, discusses existing surveys that ask questions on water quality, and outlines information on actual water quality data that are available for the United States.	Research	2022
Accessibility in Housing: Findings from the 2019 American Housing Survey To better understand the level of accessibility in the U.S. housing stock, the 2019 American Housing Survey (AHS) included a series of questions pertaining to the respondent household's level of access and use of their own home.	Research	2021
The Usefulness of the GUTREHB Variable In 2015, the American Housing Survey (AHS) introduced a new variable to its questionnaire: GUTREHB.	Research	2021
Characteristics of HUD-Assisted Renters and Their Units in 2019 The 2019 American Housing Survey (AHS) included a supplemental survey of rental units receiving subsidies from programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).	Research	2021
Imputing Year Built with Property Tax Data The American Housing Survey (AHS) and the American Community Survey (ACS) ask respondents about when their housing unit was built (hereinafter referred to as year built).	Research	2021
Imputing Lot Size with Property Tax Data The American Housing Survey (AHS) and the American Community Survey (ACS) ask respondents about the size of their lot (hereinafter referred to as lot size).	Research	2021
Utility Cost Estimation Model Development and Decisions for the 2015 American Housing Survey and Beyond Part of the 2015 American Housing Survey (AHS) Redesign Series, this paper summarizes research on utility cost estimation conducted by PD&R and the U.S. Census Bureau considered for implementation in the 2015 AHS.	Research	2017
Between-Survey Changes in the Number of Bedrooms in a Unit This paper examines the extent to which bedroom counts for units in the American Housing Survey (AHS) change between surveys and how this variation affects the analysis of rental affordability.	Research	2013
Analysis of Trends in Household Composition Using AHS Data This report evaluates changes in AHS household composition from 2003 to 2009, particularly those changes that reflect an increase in doubled-up households.	Research	2013
American Housing Survey: A Measure of (Poor) Housing Quality This report develops a Poor Quality Index (PQI) that measures the level of physical deficiencies in American Housing Survey (AHS) sample housing units.	Research	2013
American Housing Survey: Housing Adequacy and Quality As Measured by the AHS This report examines the AHS measure of housing adequacy and defines which physical problems most often result in a unit being labeled as severely inadequate.	Research	2013
Disability Variables in the American Housing Survey This report compares disability data in the AHS with other Federal surveys and explores why the AHS shows lower incidences of units with disabilities.	Technical Report	2013
Housing Units that Serve Both the Renter and Owner Markets This study uses linked AHS data over the period 1985-2009 to examine units that change tenure between owner-occupied and renter-occupied, in either direction.	Research	2011
2007 American Community Survey: A Comparison to Selected Housing and Financial Characteristics for The United States From the 2007 American Housing Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) and the American Housing Survey (AHS) attempt to measure many of the same concepts and characteristics.	Technical Report	2011
Imputation via Triangular Regression-Based Hot Deck This HUD report describes the imputation system developed for the 2005 AHS Income variables	Research	2007
Evaluation of the 2005 Changes in the AHS Income Questionnaire This HUD report compares income data from 2003 and 2005. In 2005, AHS adopted income questions similar to those used by the ACS.	Research	2007
American Housing Survey: A Quality Profile This 1996 report describes potential sources of errors in AHS data and quality control procedures used in the operation of the survey.	Research	1996
Our Nation’s Housing in 1993 This report examines the demographic, economic, and physical housing characteristics of the housing stock using the 1993 AHS.	Research	1995
Investigating Very High Rent Burdens Among Renters in the American Housing Survey This research examines the demographic characteristics, causes, and persistence of renter households with high rent burdens.	Research	2010
Combining the American Housing Survey and the American Community Survey to Produce Information Useful in Public Emergency Situations: An Exploratory Analysis This research project explores the possibility of using small-area statistical techniques to generate information for areas not covered by the AHS.	Technical Report	2009
2007 Metropolitan Disaster Planning Analytical Support of the American Housing Survey This report documents the information in the AHS that is useful for disaster-planning analyses.	Technical Report	2009
Trends in Housing Costs: 1985-2005 and the 30-Percent-of-Income Standard This study examines why housing costs have changed so much relative to income over time and what benchmark to use to measure housing affordability.	Research	2008
Data on Home Mortgage Finance from the 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005 American Housing Surveys The purpose of this report is to help researchers and policymakers evaluate how well the AHS housing finance data can serve their needs.	Research	2008
Measuring Overcrowding in Housing Using data from the 1985 and 2005 AHS, this study evaluates the incidence of crowding and its undesirable effects on occupants.	Research	2007
32 Years of Housing Data This report documents the long-term changes in major measures of the size, composition, and quality of housing in the nation from 1973 to 2005.	Research	2007
Analysis of Racial Characterization under Different Reporting Options This report uses longitudinal data from the AHS to evaluate the effect of the U.S. Census Bureau’s change in race data collection.	Research	2006
Characteristics of Units and Their Occupants Associated with Changes in Tenure Status This study uses the longitudinal features of the AHS to identify the characteristics of units that change from owner occupied to renter occupied and vice versa.	Research	2006
Elderly Housing Consumption: Historical Patterns and Projected Trends This report uses American Housing Survey data to consider the implications of the aging of the population for the size and characteristics of the housing stock.	Research	2005
Commuting Patterns and the Housing Stock This paper explores ways to merge the AHS with another survey to produce a synthetic dataset more suitable to testing the spatial mismatch hypothesis.	Research	2005
Impact of Moving and Job Changes on Commuting Time This study uses the commuting data collected by the AHS to examine the relationship between commuting time and household moves for different household types.	Research	2005
Effects of Changes in Ownership on Repair and Remodeling Behavior in Owner-Occupied Housing This study uses data from the AHS to explore the kinds of home improvement projects that are performed just before or after a change in ownership.	Research	2005
Housing Data between the Censuses A guide to the American Housing Survey and related housing data sources.	Research	2004
These Old Houses: 2001 This report uses the 2001 AHS to compare the characteristics of housing units built before 1920 to those built in 1990 or later.	Research	2004
Rental Market Dynamics: Is Affordable Housing For the Poor an Endangered Species? This study uses AHS metropolitan data from 1995 to 1999 to examine changes in the affordable rental stock for six metropolitan areas.	Research	2003
The Destruction of Housing Capital: A Preliminary Exploration into Demolitions and Disasters The goal of this paper is to examine how to conceptualize and use the AHS to analyze losses in the housing stock.	Research	2003
Analysis of Housing Finance Issues Using the American Housing Survey (AHS) This study evaluates the limitations of using the AHS for mortgage market analysis and offers proposals on how these problems could be solved.	Technical Report	2003
American Housing Survey-Metropolitan Sample Assessment Project This report evaluates the usefulness of collecting metropolitan data in the AHS.	Technical Report	2000
Streamlining the American Housing Survey This HUD report includes recommendations to streamline the AHS by eliminating or modifying content that is currently of marginal usefulness.	Technical Report	2009
Comparison of Housing Information from the American Housing Survey and the American Community Survey This report compares housing information and 2005 estimates for the AHS and the ACS, and provides guidance on how and when to use the two surveys.	Technical Report	2007
The American Housing Survey and Non-Traditional Mortgage Products This HUD report suggests changes to the AHS mortgage questions with the objective of obtaining more information on the non-traditional mortgage products.	Technical Report	2007

User's Corner

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AHS Outreach

A recent interview by Shawn Bucholtz with Federal News Radio on the American Housing Survey, providing a comprehensive overview of its purpose and methodology.

Disability and Accessibility Variables in the American Housing Market
This webinar features one of PD&R's Senior Economists, David Vandenbroucke, discussing the 2011 AHS topical module that covers accessibility features.

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