HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2011-2015 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 5-YEAR DATA FOR HAWAII

News Release from Hawaii State Data Center, December 8, 2016

The U.S. Census Bureau released its 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates on December 8, 2016. The estimates are based on the annual American Community Survey conducted by the Census Bureau which include social, economic, demographic and housing characteristics of Hawaii’s population.

The Census Bureau releases 5-year data for all census geographic areas down to the block group level. Over 9% of Hawaii’s population were surveyed between this 2011 to 2015 period.

The new ACS dataset is a rich source of detailed race “alone or in combination with some other race” data that has not been available in previous ACS releases. This type of data is especially important to Hawaii where about one-quarter of our population are of two or more races. Average figures for the 5-year time period of 2011-2015 may be obtained for the state level and down to smaller areas such as the census tract level. For example, the number of Vietnamese race “alone or in any combination” in the state for this period was 13,373 and the number of Marshallese race “alone or in any combination” in the state was 9,215. At a smaller geographic level, the estimate for Native Hawaiians race “alone or in any combination” in the Nanakuli area was 5,683.

Other interesting additions to the ACS 5-year dataset series this year are tables for median gross rent by number of bedrooms for renter-occupied housing units and living arrangement estimates by age for adults 18 years and over. Top data categories were also changed for some key housing tables. The top category for median housing value is now “$2 million or more” (versus last year’s top category of “$1 million or more”) and the median rent’s top category was increased to “$3,500 or more” (versus last year’s top category of “$2,000 or more”). These changes provide more detailed information about selected areas within our state which had higher median values. To provide some data on owner-occupied housing units, a table on median selected monthly owner costs for housing units with mortgages was also included in these highlights.

New to these 5-year estimates are profiles which contain comparative data for smaller geographic areas such as census designated places and census tracts. Tables include data for the 2006-2010 period and the 2011-2015 period. They also include information about whether any of the differences were statistical significance. Caution must be taken when studying an area, however, in cases where the area boundaries have changed between the two time periods being studied.

read … ACS Hawaii Report