Census Data: Other Census Surveys

Current Population Survey (CPS)

The primary source of labor force statistics for the population of the United States

CPS data can also be retrieved from IPUMS CPS, and NBER.

Economic Survey

Data from the Economic Census are disseminated as tables, full datasets, FTP files, or via interactive tools. See this link for more details.

Every five years, for years ending in 2 and 7, the U.S. Census Bureau collects detailed statistics about businesses that are essential to understanding the American economy. This official count, better known as the Economic Census, serves as the foundation for the measurement of businesses in the U.S. and their economic impact.

Data produced from the Economic Census are based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and several key statistics are tabulated including number of establishments, number of employees, payroll, and measure of output (sales, value of shipments, or revenue).

The Economic Census includes all establishments that:

  • Are in operation for at least some part of the census year.
  • Are located in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, one of the five island areas, or associated offshore areas.
  • Have paid employees.
  • Are classified in one of nineteen in-scope sectors defined by NAICS.

Population Estimates and Projections

Each year, the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program uses current data on births, deaths, and migration to calculate population change since the most recent decennial census and produces a time series of estimates of population, demographic components of change, and housing units. The annual time series of estimates begins with the most recent decennial census data and extends to the vintage year.

Population projections are estimates of the population for future dates. Projections illustrate possible courses of population change based on assumptions about future births, deaths, net international migration, and domestic migration.

County and Zip Code Business Patterns

County Business Patterns (CBP) is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. This series includes the number of establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll.

County Business Patterns has been produced as a consistent, annual series since 1964 and ZIP Code Business Patterns since 1994.

Most of the available datasets (1986 - now) can be found on the Census website.

Historical data prior to 1986 can be found in National Archives and they are partially digitized.

List of All Surveys and Programs

This page only lists a few widely-used census surveys by academic researchers and the U.S. Census Bureau conducts more than 130 surveys and programs each year, here is the link to the full list.

You can also use this Census Survey Explorer to discover U.S. Census Bureau surveys or censuses by filtering and searching by geography, frequency, topics, and subtopics.