The U.S. Census Bureau has announced it will host 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 guide users on accessing ACS data and offer advice for comparing statistics across different geographic areas and over time.
The ACS is recognized as a key source of information about the United States population and housing, covering more than 40 topics including education, employment, commuting patterns, mortgage status, income levels, poverty rates, health insurance coverage, and languages spoken at home. According to the Census Bureau, it remains the only provider of local-level estimates for most subjects in its survey.
Statistics from this ACS release will be made available to embargo subscribers beginning January 27 at 10 a.m. ET. These data will cover various geographic units such as states, congressional districts, metropolitan and micropolitan areas, counties, cities, census tracts, and block groups. Embargoed access will remain in effect until January 29 at 12:01 a.m. ET; distribution services are reminded that sharing news stories or data files before the public release is not allowed under the bureau’s embargo policy. The full datasets are set for public release by January 29 at 10 a.m. ET.
Individuals seeking embargo access can register through the Census Bureau’s website (https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/embargoed_releases).
The prerelease webinar will feature presentations by Gretchen Gooding (chief of Outreach and Education Branch), Vicki Mack (statistician), and Jewel Jordan (public affairs specialist). The event will include both audio conferencing and an online presentation format; participants can submit questions via Q&A during or after the session.
Registration details for attending the webinar are available online (https://www.census.gov/data/academy/webinars/2026/2020-2024-acs-5-year-prerelease.html).
