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.

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. Beginning in 2013, in the Internet self-response instrument, the roster of people is not created. Rather, if no one is living or staying there for more than 2 months, it is established that the home is not the current residence of any household members and the instrument begins the battery of vacant housing questions.

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

Do not compare because differences in the design and data collection methods between the ACS and the Decennial Census may materially affect estimates of vacancy rates. For more information on differences in vacancy rates between the ACS and Census, see Comparing 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates of Occupancy Status, Vacancy Status, and Household Size with the 2010 Census - Preliminary Results on the Census website. Go to http://www.census.gov/acs and enter the paper title in the search box