The U.S. Census Bureau will hold a prerelease webinar on January 22 at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the upcoming release of the 2020-2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. The session aims to help participants learn how to access ACS data and understand how to compare geographies and statistics over time.
The ACS collects information on various aspects of the nation’s population and housing, including language spoken at home, education levels, commuting patterns, employment status, mortgage and rent details, income, poverty rates, and health insurance coverage. It remains the only source for local estimates on most of its more than 40 topics.
According to the Census Bureau, embargo subscribers will be able to access these statistics starting January 27 at 10 a.m. ET. The data covers a range of geographic areas such as all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, congressional and state legislative districts, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, counties, places, census tracts, and block groups.
Embargoed access will last until January 29 at 12:01 a.m. ET. During this period, wire services are not allowed to distribute news stories or data files before public release in accordance with the Census Bureau’s embargo policy. The full datasets will become publicly available by January 29 at 10 a.m. ET.
Gretchen Gooding from the American Community Survey Office Outreach and Education Branch; Vicki Mack from the same office; and Jewel Jordan from the Public Information Office are scheduled speakers for the webinar. Attendees can participate in an audio conference paired with an online presentation and ask questions through both written Q&A during the event or via audio after it concludes.
Those interested in embargo access can register through www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/embargoed_releases while registration for the webinar itself is available at www.census.gov/data/academy/webinars/2026/2020-2024-acs-5-year-prerelease.html.
