HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010-2014 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 5-YEAR DATA FOR HAWAII

News Release from DBEDT, December 3, 2015

The U.S. Census Bureau released its 2010-2014 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates on December 3, 2015. The estimates are based on the annual American Community Survey conducted by the Census Bureau which include social, economic, and detailed housing characteristics of Hawaii’s population.

The Census Bureau releases 5-year data for all census geographic areas down to the block group level. Almost 9% of Hawaii’s population was surveyed between this 2010 to 2014 period.

Some interesting additions to the ACS 5-year dataset series are tables for the foreign-born populations by sex and detailed age categories; usual hours worked per week by weeks worked for the population 65 years and over by sex; full-time, year-round work status by age for the population 16 years and over; and health insurance coverage estimates by school enrollment status for young adults aged 19 to 25.

This data release is also the first time that ACS users are able to look at trends using non-overlapping time periods, especially for small areas. These time periods are 2005-2009 and 2010-2014. Caution must be taken, though, that the area boundaries did not change over the two time periods. One example of an area that may be compared is the Mililani Town census-designated place (CDP). The population in the Mililani Town area grew by 2% during this time interval. The percentage of the population who were elderly increased from about 11% in the earlier time period to 15% in the later one. At the same time, the median household income (adjusted for inflation) decreased by 5%. Please note that this data does not include people in the separate area called Mililani Mauka CDP.

Through the use of the census tract data, information by islands may be obtained from the ACS 5-year estimates.

DBEDT: ACS 2014 Page

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