Census Bureau Releases Race and Ancestry Research Data

SEPT. 26, 2024 - The U.S. Census Bureau today released new tables on race and ancestry using 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year data. The data included in these tables are for demonstration purposes and are not official Census Bureau estimates. The release of these tables reflects the Census Bureau's continued commitment to transparency and ongoing efforts to research similarities between data collected from the ACS race and ancestry questions.

These tables were produced in response to stakeholder input about the need to understand who is reporting detailed responses to the race question. They inform the public about the similarities and differences between race and ancestry estimates. They also help data users analyze the characteristics of those reporting specific detailed races and ancestries, which will inform future recommendations about the possible removal of the ancestry question.

The tables compare race and ancestry data, side by side, for over 100 population groups. The estimates include population totals as well as social, economic, housing and demographic characteristics. Groups included in this product represent populations historically collected and tabulated through the ancestry question.

Prior to 2020, ACS data on detailed White, Black or African American, and Some Other Race populations, such as Lebanese, Haitian and Brazilian, were primarily collected and tabulated through the ancestry question. Starting in 2020, the Census Bureau implemented changes to the ACS race question, coding and processing based on research and community feedback over the past decade. Now, the race question collects detailed race groups from all respondents, regardless of race category.

Estimates are based on ACS 1-year estimates; margins of error and an indicator of statistically significant differences are included.

The tables are available on the Population Profiles Using Race and Ancestry webpage. (They will not be available on data.census.gov.)

For more information on this ongoing research, visit A Comparison of Ancestry and Race Data in the 2021 American Community Survey: Preliminary Findings.

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