Beginning in 1790 as required by the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. federal government has conducted a decennial census: a count of the population, every 10 years. This is known as the Census of Population and Housing. The short form of the census gathers basic information on all residents of the United States. In 2000 and earlier, one in six families also received a long form of the census, which gathered more detailed socioeconomic information. Since 2005, the long form has been replaced by the American Community Survey, which is conducted on an ongoing basis.
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The American Community Survey is the Census Bureau's main source for detailed socioeconomic, population and housing statistics. Data is collected in 1-year and 5-year terms. 1-year estimates are best for research where currency is more important than precision; choose a sufficiently large population area to avoid sampling errors. 5-year estimates are better for examining small population groups.