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AHS-ACS Comparison on HUD USER

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AHS
A new report comparing the American Housing Survey and the American
Community Survey has been posted to the HUD USER web site,
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html .  You can find a link
to the PDF file in the "AHS-Based Analyses" section of that page.

The American Housing Survey is a longitudinal survey of the housing
stock that is conducted every two years.  The American Community Survey
is a broad survey of population and housing that is conducted every
year.  While the AHS has much richer detail about housing, the ACS has
much larger sample sizes and identifies local geography.

The report was written by Federick J. Eggers of Econometrica, Inc.,
under contract with HUD.

Here is the table of contents:

1. Overview of the AHS and the ACS
1.1. The American Housing Survey
1.2. The American Community Survey
1.3.  Comparison of the AHS and the ACS

2. Comparison of Housing Information Provided by the AHS and the ACS
2.1. Types of Housing Variables
2.2. Availability of Tables that Relate Housing Variables to Each Other

3. Comparison of Estimates from the 2005 AHS and the 2005 ACS
3.1. Residence Rules and Occupied/Vacant Status
3.2. Counts of Housing Units, Seasonal Units, Vacant Units, and Occupied
Units. 12
3.3. Comparison of Estimates of Housing Characteristics
3.4. Possible Reasons for Differences in Survey Findings

4. Guidance on Using the AHS and the ACS for Housing Information
4.1. No Fundamental Flaws in Either Survey
4.2. Cautions to the ACS Users
4.3. Guidance for Analysis of Housing Issues at the National Level
4.4. Guidance for Analysis of Housing Issues at the Local Level
4.5. Guidance for Analysis of Housing Issues for Metropolitan Areas
Included
in the AHS Metropolitan Survey
4.6. Summary

Appendix-Supplemental Table

Dav Vandenbroucke
Senior Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david.a.vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-402-5890