The data on residence 1 year ago were derived from answers to Question 14, which were asked of the population 1 year and older. For the American Community Survey, people who had moved from another residence in the United States or Puerto Rico 1 year earlier were asked to report the exact address (number and street name); the name of the city, town, or post office; the name of the U.S. county or municipio in Puerto Rico; state or Puerto Rico; and the ZIP Code where they lived 1 year ago. People living outside the United States and Puerto Rico were asked to report the name of the foreign country or U.S. Island Area where they were living 1 year ago.
For the Puerto Rico Community Survey, people who moved from another residence in Puerto Rico or the United States 1 year ago were asked to report the exact address, including the development or condominium name; the name of the city, town, or post office; the municipio in Puerto Rico (county equivalent) or county in the U.S.; and the ZIP Code where they lived. People living outside Puerto Rico and the United States were asked to report the name of the foreign country or U.S. Island Area where they were living 1 year ago.
Residence 1 year ago is used in conjunction with location of current residence to determine the extent of residential mobility of the population and the resulting redistribution of the population across the various states, metropolitan areas, and regions of the country.
When no information on previous residence was reported for a person, information for other family members, if available, was used to assign a location of residence 1 year ago. All cases of nonresponse or incomplete response that were not assigned a previous residence based on information from other family members were allocated the previous residence of another person with similar characteristics who provided complete information.
The tabulation category, "Same house," includes all people 1 year and over who did not move during the 1 year as well as those who had moved and returned to their residence 1 year ago. The category, "Different house in the United States" includes people who lived in the United States 1 year ago but in a different house or apartment from the one they occupied at the time of interview. These movers are then further subdivided according to the type of move.
In most tabulations, movers within the U.S. are divided into three groups according to their previous residence: "Different house, same county," "Different county, same state," and "Different state." The last group may be further subdivided into region of residence 1 year ago. An additional category, "Abroad," includes those whose previous residence was in a foreign country, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Marianas, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, including members of the Armed Forces and their dependents. Some tabulations show movers who were residing in Puerto Rico or one of the U.S. Island Areas 1 year ago separately from those residing in foreign countries.
In most tabulations, movers within Puerto Rico are divided into two groups according to their residence 1 year ago: "Same municipio," and "Different municipio." Other tabulations show movers within or between metropolitan areas similar to the stateside tabulations.
Residence-1-Year-Ago-based Geography
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.
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.
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 on-going data collection on the American Community Survey, and allows for annual estimates of 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.
