The characteristics of movers may be shown using either current residence-based or previous residence-based geography. If you are interested in the number and characteristics of movers living in a specific area, you should use the standard (residence-based) tables. If you are interested in the number and characteristics of movers who previous residence was in a specific area, you should use the residence-1-year-ago-based tables. Because residence-1-year-ago information for movers cannot always be specified below the place level, the previous residence-based tables are presented only for selected geographic areas.

Residence 1 year ago is used to assess the residential stability and the effects of migration in both urban and rural areas. This item provides information on the mobility of our population. Knowing the number and characteristics of movers is essential for federal programs dealing with employment, housing, education, and the elderly. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs develops its mandated projection of the need for hospitals and other veteran benefits for each state with migration data about veterans. The Census Bureau develops state age and sex estimates and small-area population projections based on data about residence 1 year ago.
Question/Concept History

The 1996-1998 questions asked about residence 5 years ago. Beginning in 1999, the time period was changed to that of 1 year ago, which reflects the ongoing data collection on the American Community Survey, and allows for annual estimatesof migration. Beginning in 1999, a separate write-in line and a skip instruction were added for a foreign country response. This write-in line was moved to one of the answer categories for the residence one year ago question. The migration parts (city, county, and state response areas) were also reordered. Beginning in 2003, the numerical order was changed so that part c of this question would not be displayed in a separate column of the questionnaire.

Beginning with 2008, a write-in space for street address was included and the questions were reworded on both the ACS and the PRCS so that the geographic specificity is maintained for movers within and between the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Municipio of previous residence in Puerto Rico is available for people living in the United States as a result of this change. For more information, see the report titled Report P.3: Evaluation Report Covering Residence 1 Year Ago (Migration) on the ACS website (http://www.census.gov/acs).

Limitation of the Data - Beginning in 2006, the group quarters (GQ) population is included in the ACS. Some types of GQ populations have residence one year ago (migration) distributions that are different from the household population. The inclusion of the GQ population could therefore have a noticeable impact on the residence one year ago (migration) distribution. This is particularly true for areas with a substantial GQ population.

Comparability - This data source is not comparable to the Census 2000. The ACS asked for residence 1 year ago whereas Census 2000 asked for residence 5 years ago.

See the 2013 Code List on the ACS website (http://www.census.gov/acs) for Migration Code List.

A housing unit occupied at the time of interview entirely by people who will be there for 2 months or less.In Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) and Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI), the data for current residence elsewhere were obtained after creating the roster of people staying at the sample unit and after asking the current residence questions. Temporarily occupied units are sample units occupied at the time of interview entirely by people who will be there for 2 months or less. At sample units where all the people are staying less than 2 months, the respondent is asked a subset of the questions from the housing section, including the question on vacancy status.

The current residence concept is unique to the American Community Survey. By using the current residence to decide for whom to collect survey information, the ACS can provide a more accurate description of an area's social and economic characteristics. Most surveys, as well as the decennial census, use the concept of usual residence. Usual residence is defined as the place where a person lives and sleeps most of the time. The census defines everyone as having only one usual residence.

Comparability

Caution should be used when comparing vacant-current residence elsewhere data between the American Community Survey and Census 2000.