Statistics, Demographics and Census: American Community Survey

"Mr. Madison observed, that they had now an opportunity of obtaining the most useful information for those who should hereafter be called upon to legislate for their country, if this bill was extended so as to embrace some other objects besides the bare enumeration of the inhabitants; it would enable them to adapt the public measures to the particular circumstances of the community. In order to know the various interests of the United States, it was necessary that the description of the several classes into which the community is divided should be accurately known. On this knowledge the Legislature might proceed to make a proper provision for the agricultural, commercial, and manufacturing interests, but without it they could never make their provisions in due proportion."
-- excerpt from page 1115, January 25, 1790, Gales & Seaton's History of Debates in Congress (Annals of Congress)

See also additional discussion in the Annals of Congress, February 2, 1790, pages 1145-1147

American Community Survey (U.S. Census) is a nationwide annual survey which replaced the long form in the 2010 Census. Only a small number of communities were included in the initial surveys during testing; the full American Community Survey began in 2005.  Even the 2008 survey only includes county level data for most of the covered areas.

• Annual estimates are available for geographic areas with populations of 65,000+.
• Three-year averages are available for geographic areas with populations of 20,000+. (NOTE: The 3-year estimates might not be updated beyond the 2011-2013 data released on October 23, 2014. See news releases for updates.)
• Five-year averages are available for smaller geographic areas, including census tracts and block groups.

NOTE: The 2005-2009 5-year averages provided the first sets of data for areas smaller than 20,000. The first ZIP Code Tabulation Area data appear in the 5-year averages for 2007-2011 which were released December 6, 2012.

Of 888 Florida places (cities, towns, CDPs, etc.), only 163 were large enough (20,000+) to have data reported in the 2006-2008 3-year averages.

Only 38 Florida places were large enough (65,000+) to have data reported in the 2006 1-year estimates: Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Brandon, Cape Coral, Clearwater, Coral Springs, Davie, Deerfield Beach, Deltona, Fort Lauderdale, Gainesville, Hialeah, Hollywood, Jacksonville, Kendall, Lakeland, Largo, Lehigh Acres, Melbourne, Miami, Miami Beach, Miami Gardens, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Bay, Palm Coast, Pembroke Pines, Plantation, Pompano Beach, Port St. Lucie, St. Petersburg, Spring Hill, Sunrise, Tallahassee, Tampa, Town 'n' Country, Weston, West Palm Beach.

For those seeking sub-county data prior to the 2005-2009 5-Year Averages, the PUMS data may be helpful for users with access to statistical analysis programs. For example, Orange County consists of PUMAs 02201-02207.

The Florida counties included for each annual and multi-year release are listed below:
(county names appear in bold in their earliest release)

• The 13 Florida counties (populations less than 20,000) for which data was first reported in the 2005-2009 5-Year Averages are: Calhoun, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jefferson, Lafayette, Liberty, Madison, Union
• 2009 (40 counties) -- Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St Johns, St Lucie, Sumter, Volusia
• 2006-2008 3-Year Averages (54 counties) -- Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Gadsden, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jackson, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St Johns, St Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, Washington
• 2008 (40 counties) -- Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St Johns, St Lucie, Sumter, Volusia
• 2005-2007 3-Year Averages (53 counties) -- Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Gadsden, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jackson, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St Johns, St Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, Washington
• 2007 (40 counties) -- Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St Johns, St Lucie, Sumter, Volusia
• 2006 (39 counties) -- Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St Johns, St Lucie, Sumter, Volusia
• 2005 (37 counties) -- Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St Johns, St Lucie, Volusia
• NOTE: Surveys prior to 2005 were conducted during the testing and evaluation phase.
• 2004 (16 counties) -- Brevard, Broward, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, Volusia
• 2003 (16 counties) -- Brevard, Broward, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, Volusia
• 2002 (16 counties) -- Brevard, Broward, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, Volusia
• 2001 -- Broward County
• 2000 -- Broward County
• 1999 -- Broward County