What is the ACS PUMS?
The US Census Bureau provides ACS data for analysis. The ACS Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) is a sub-sample of the ACS sample. All identifying information such as name and address is removed, to protect confidentiality. The PUMS supports development of custom tables not included in the American Factfinder, and is available to download from the Factfinder website. For PUMS users, the smallest sub-state geographic identifier provided is the Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA). PUMAs are 100,000 in population or larger. Large counties and places may be made up of one or more PUMAs and in this case the PUMS will support local estimates, but smaller jurisdictions will need to rely on estimates from the PUMA in which they are located. For more information, please refer to US Census Bureau (2009a) A compass for understanding and using American Community Survey data: What PUMS data users need to know.
