A housing unit is classified as occupied if it is the current place of residence of the person or group of people living in it at the time of interview, or if the occupants are only temporarily absent from the residence for two months or less, that is, away on vacation or a business trip. If all the people staying in the unit at the time of the interview are staying there for two months or less, the unit is considered to be temporarily occupied and classified as "vacant." The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of related or unrelated people who share living quarters. The living quarters occupied by staff personnel within any group quarters are separate housing units if they satisfy the housing unit criteria of separateness and direct access; otherwise, they are considered group quarters.

Occupied rooms or suites of rooms in hotels, motels, and similar places are classified as housing units only when occupied by permanent residents, that is, people who consider the hotel as their current place of residence or have no current place of residence elsewhere. If any of the occupants in rooming or boarding houses, congregate housing, or continuing care facilities live separately from others in the building and have direct access, their quarters are classified as separate housing units.

The data for tenure were obtained from Housing Question 14 in the 2011 American Community Survey. The question was asked at occupied housing units. Occupied housing units are classified as either owner occupied or renter occupied.

Tenure provides a measurement of home ownership, which has served as an indicator of the nation's economy for decades. These data are used to aid in the distribution of funds for programs such as those involving mortgage insurance, rental housing, and national defense housing. Data on tenure allows planners to evaluate the overall viability of housing markets and to assess the stability of neighborhoods. The data also serve in understanding the characteristics of owner occupied and renter occupied units to aid builders, mortgage lenders, planning officials, government agencies, etc., in the planning of housing programs and services.

The data on year householder moved into unit were obtained from answers to Housing Question 3 in the 2011 American Community Survey, which was asked at occupied housing units. These data refer to the year of the latest move by the householder. If the householder moved back into a housing unit he or she previously occupied, the year of the latest move was reported. If the householder moved from one apartment to another within the same building, the year the householder moved into the present apartment was reported. The intent is to establish the year the present occupancy by the householder began. The year that the householder moved in is not necessarily the same year other members of the household moved in, although in the great majority of cases an entire household moves at the same time.

The year the householder moved into the unit provides information on the specific period of time when mobility occurs, especially for recent movers. These data help to measure neighborhood stability and to identify transient communities. The data also is used to assess the amount of displacement caused by floods and other natural disasters, and as an aid to evaluate the changes in service requirements.