Then and now: Census Bureau readies release of American Community Survey

Every ten years the Census Bureau collects information about the people who make up communities across the nation as part of the decennial census. And while not everyone responded immediately or were later tracked down by Census Bureau personnel in 2020, the vast majority of the 337,528,000 people in the United States at the time were counted and surveyed.

Some of the information from the last census was analyzed and counted immediately, like the raw population data which determines how many representatives states have in Congress. But with trillions of data points collected, much of the information about where people are living, as well as how they are making a living, is just now getting studied and distributed. 

You can look at a lot of the raw census data online right now, as well as selected bits of information from the Census Bureau’s other surveys. But unless you are really good at spotting trends, or maybe use a trained artificial intelligence, then applying that data to help predict what might happen in the future is difficult. Thankfully, the Census Bureau periodically releases publications that feature a deep analysis of key pieces of that raw data.

A perfect example of that is the American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates for 2019 to 2023 publication, which is due out later this month. The ACS provides a fascinating and detailed look at American life, including things like where people are living and who resides in their households, what languages they speak, their level of education, the mortgage or rent they pay, how much they earn at their jobs and even what kind of health insurance coverage they have. Once the ACS is released, expect even more analysis from both the public and private sector as people look to analyze trends in everything from poverty to crime to economic opportunity, and to make predictions about where we are likely heading in the future.

The Census Bureau tends to keep information contained with their ACS publications under wraps until they are officially released, but did share some key points with the press on a webinar last week. They compared the most recent information with the numbers from 1974, and in several places it was clear that the country has changed quite a lot.

Some of the key points covered were fairly surprising. Although the Census Bureau personnel did not try to analyze what those discovered trends meant, it’s clear that there are definite shifts in demographics.

For example, people are clearly having fewer children. In 1974, over half of the homes in the United States had children under 18 years old living in them, at 54%. But today, that number has dropped to just 39%. However, older children do seem to be sticking close to home for longer. In 2024, over half of adults ages 18 to 24 live with their parents, at 57%. By the time they reach ages 25 to 34, most have moved out, although 16% still live at home.

More people are also living by themselves these days. In 1974, single person homes were somewhat rare, comprising only 19% of the overall population. But in 2024, that is up to 29%, which is 38.5 million households. 

People also seem to be putting off major life decisions like marriage until later in life these days. In 1974, most women getting married for the first time were just 21 years old. It was slightly higher for men, who averaged 23 years old for their first marriage. But in 2024, people are waiting much longer to tie the knot. Most women now wait until age 28 before getting married while men put that off on average until they are 30 years old. And 34% of people surveyed who were over the age of 15 have never been married at all.

Perhaps the fact that people seem to be living longer may account for the delay in marriage rates. If you go back 50 years, the data shows that on average, one in every five households had a person living there who was over the age of 65. Today that has increased to one in four homes.

The Census Bureau plans to release the ACS report under embargo to the media this week, with full public access to follow a few days later. A full list of each factor that the report will cover, as well as links to some of the raw data is also available online. 

John Breeden II is an award-winning journalist and reviewer with over 20 years of experience covering technology. He is the CEO of the Tech Writers Bureau, a group that creates technological thought leadership content for organizations of all sizes. Twitter: @LabGuys