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Data Dictionary: ACS 2016 (5-Year Estimates)
you are here: choose a survey survey data set table variable details
Data Source: Social Explorer; U.S. Census Bureau
Universe: Universe: Occupied housing units
Variable Details
A10055. Occupied Housing Units by Year Structure Built
Universe: Universe: Occupied housing units
A10055_001Occupied Housing Units:
Percent base:
None - percentages not computed (variable is table universe)
Aggregation method:
Addition
Formula used to compute this variable:
#ReturnType oretval = new #ReturnType(); oretval = ACS16_5yr:B25036001; return oretval;
Variables used in the formula:
ACS16_5yr:B25036001
Occupied Housing Units
Relevant Documentation:
Excerpt from: Social Explorer; U.S. Census Bureau; 2016 ACS 1-year and 2012-2016 ACS 5-year Data Releases: Technical Documentation.
  2016 ACS 1-year and 2012-2016 ACS 5-year Data Releases: Technical Documentation -> Appendix A: Supplemental Documentation -> 2014 Subject Definitions -> Living Quarters -> Housing Unit -> Occupied Housing Unit
Occupied Housing Unit
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.

Excerpt from: Social Explorer; U.S. Census Bureau; 2016 ACS 1-year and 2012-2016 ACS 5-year Data Releases: Technical Documentation.
  2016 ACS 1-year and 2012-2016 ACS 5-year Data Releases: Technical Documentation -> Appendix A: Supplemental Documentation -> 2014 Subject Definitions -> Housing Variables -> Year Structure Built
Year Structure Built
The data on year structure built were obtained from Housing Question 2 in the 2013 American Community Survey. The question was asked at both occupied and vacant housing units. Year structure built refers to when the building was first constructed, not when it was remodeled, added to, or converted. Housing units under construction are included as vacant housing if they meet the housing unit definition, that is, all exterior windows, doors, and final usable floors are in place. For mobile homes, houseboats, RVs, etc., the manufacturer's model year was assumed to be the year built. The data relate to the number of units built during the specified periods that were still in existence at the time of interview.

The year the structure was built provides information on the age of housing units. These data help identify new housing construction and measures the disappearance of old housing from the inventory, when used in combination with data from previous years. The data also serve to aid in the development of formulas to determine substandard housing and provide assistance in forecasting future services, such as energy consumption and fire protection.

Median Year Structure Built
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Median year structure built divides the distribution into two equal parts: one-half of the cases falling below the median year structure built and one-half above the median. Median year structure built is computed on the basis of a standard distribution. (See the "Standard Distributions" section in Appendix A.) The median is rounded to the nearest calendar year. Median age of housing can be obtained by subtracting median year structure built from survey year. For example, if the median year structure built is 1969, the median age of housing in that area is 44 years (2013 minus 1969). (For more information on medians, see "Derived Measures.")

Question/Concept History

The 1996-1998 American Community Survey question provided a write-in space for the respondent to enter a year the structure was built. From 1999-2007 the question provided 9 pre-coded response categories, which showed ranges of years, and from 2003-2007 the response categories were updated to provide detail for recently built structures. Starting in 2008, the response category "2000 or later" and the instruction "Specify yeaf with a write-in box replaced the two categories "2000 to 2004" and "2005 or later."

Limitation of the Data

Data on year structure built are more susceptible to errors of response and non-reporting than data for many other questions because respondents must rely on their memory or on estimates by people who have lived in the neighborhood a long time.

Comparability

Data on year structure built in the 2013 American Community Survey can be compared to previous ACS and Census 2000 year structure built data.