Census Bureau Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Updates to the Census Bureau’s Race/Ethnicity Code List

NOV. 18, 2024 - Today the U.S. Census Bureau published a Federal Register notice (FRN) asking for public comment on proposed updates to its race/ethnicity code list as part of the Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project. The updated code list will be used when the combined race/ethnicity question is implemented in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2030 Census. This effort is designed to ensure that detailed race/ethnicity responses are accurately coded and tabulated in future data releases.

Coding is the process of assigning a numeric code to each response to the race/ethnicity question. The race/ethnicity code list shows how detailed responses to the race/ethnicity questions are coded and classified, which informs how data are tabulated in ACS and decennial census data products.

The Census Bureau classifies and tabulates race/ethnicity data following standards set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15), which were updated earlier this year.

Additionally, the Census Bureau has posted a Federal Register notice (FRN) seeking public comments about the Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project. The Census Bureau is only seeking feedback on how race/ethnicity groups and American Indian or Alaska Native tribes and villages will be internally coded. This FRN is not seeking feedback on OMB's updated SPD 15 standards.

All feedback provided to the FRN will be considered by the Census Bureau, but code list updates must meet three criteria: there is strong federal scientific research and evidence supporting the update, stakeholder feedback supports the update, and the update aligns with the definitions of the seven minimum race/ethnicity reporting categories in the updated SPD 15.

The public may provide feedback to the FRN from now until February 18, 2025.

You can learn much more about what the race/ethnicity code list is, how it works, and the types of feedback the Census Bureau is seeking in the blog, "Updating the Race/Ethnicity Code List for the American Community Survey and the 2030 Census."

For additional information, visit the Census Bureau's Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project press kit, Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Race and Ethnicity Standards press kit, and OMB's webpage about Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity.