2020 Decennial Census Data for Zips
First, there are no 2020 income data currently available for any Census geographies. There are only 2020 demographic data available at this time.
In August 2021, the US Census Bureau released the limited 2020 Census Redistricting data for geographies like cities, counties, and Census tracts. Unfortunately, there are no 2020 Census Redistricting data for zips/ZCTAs. 2020 Census data for zips/ZCTAs will be released later, but the Census Bureau hasn’t said when. All the gory details are in this blog post.
Too many of our clients need 2020 demographics for zips/ ZCTAs for us to continue to wait for the US Census Bureau to release either the 2020 Decennial Redistricting data or the 2020 American Community Survey data. To solve the problem of missing 2020 data for zips, we ran intersections between the 2020 Census blocks and 2020 ZCTAs and then summed the 2020 Census Redistricting data for blocks to produce zip/ZCTA estimates for:
- population,
- age 18 and over,
- race/ethnicity,
- housing units,
- occupied/vacant units and
- group quarters population.
The negative of using Census blocks to create these estimates is that these small geographies are more likely to be impacted by “fake” data (noise infusion) than larger geographies. The fake data was purposely added by the Census Bureau so that bad actors can’t identify individuals using Census data (privacy protection).
The positives of using Census blocks to produce the ZCTA estimates are that Census block boundaries play nice with (are contiguous with) ZCTAs boundaries and that we could provide you with these estimates NOW rather than sitting on our hands while waiting on the Census Bureau.
You can get the 2020 zips/ZCTA estimates now with your purchase of a Income by Report +Demographics. The 2020 estimates are on a 2nd sheet in the Excel file. And if you purchase now, you’ll still get the Census’ official 2020 data update for no additional charge...whenever that release date actually is.
When can I get 2020 income data? Or where are all the other important demographics?
Population, race/ethnicity, housing units, occupied/vacant units, and group quarters population are the only 2020 Census data available in the redistricting dataset. There will be additional Census 2020 variables released in the future, but the Census 2020 dataset won't include data like income data. For income and other important demographics, we'll need to wait for the Census' 2020 American Community Survey dataset which may be released in March 2022.
Still have questions? Contact us.