Families and Living Arrangements

The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual national survey collected monthly which provides communities with reliable and timely demographic, housing, social, and economic data every year. Data about families and living arrangements are available for the U.S., states, counties, selected metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, and selected zip codes from 2000 to the present.

Available Tabulations

There are hundreds of recurring tables containing information about families and living arrangements. These tables are available through American FactFinder since 2000. For an explanation of the tables options, please click here.

Other Technical and Analytical Reports

Caution statement for Changes in the Relationship Categories Between 2007 and 2008 [PDF - 8.8K] .

Comparison of ACS and ASEC Data on Households and Families: 2004 [PDF - 147K]

Fact Sheet: Differences in the Marital Status Estimates from the American Community Survey, Current Population Survey, Survey of Income and Program Participation, and Decennial Census.

Fact Sheet: Differences in the Households and Family Estimates from the American Community Survey, Current Population Survey, Survey of Income and Program Participation, and Decennial Census Participation, and Decennial Census.

Related Papers and Presentations

Variation in the Formation of Complex Family Households during the Recession 

• Paper [PDF - 8.8K] , by Diana B. Elliott, Rebekah Young and Jane L. Dye. Presented at the National Council on Family Relations 73rd Annual Conference, Orlando, FL, November 16-19, 2011.
• Detailed Tables [PDF - 8.8K]

Demographics of Same-Sex Couple Households with Children 

• Paper [PDF - 434k] , by Kristy M. Krivickas and Daphne Lofquist. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Washington, DC, March 31-April 2, 2011.
• Presentation [PPT - 700k]

Contexts of Racial Socialization: Are Transracial Adoptive Families More Like Multiracial or White Monoracial Families? [PDF - 8.8K] , by Rose M. Kreider and Elizabeth Raleigh. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Washington, DC, March 31 - April 2, 2011.

Understanding Changes in Families and Households Pre- and Post-Katrina [PDF - 8.8K] , by Diana B. Elliott. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, CA, August 7-11, 2009.

Differences Between Coresident and Non-coresident Women with a Recent Birth 

• Paper [PDF - 8.8K] , by Gretchen Gooding. Presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, Boston, MA, August 1-4, 2008.
• Detailed Tables [XLS - 8.8K]

Roomers and Boarders: 1880-2005 

• Presentation [PDF - 8.8K] , by Melissa Scopilliti and Martin O’Connell. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, New Orleans, April 17-19, 2008.
• Presentation [PPT - 8.8K]

Young Adults Living in their Parent's Home [PDF - 8.8K] , by Rose M. Kreider. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York, NY, August 11-14, 2007.

Marital Status in the 2004 American Community Survey [HTML] [PDF - 8.8K], by Rose M. Kreider. (83)  Issued December 2006.

Editing Unmarried Couples in Census Bureau Data 

• Paper, by Martin O’Connell and Gretchen Gooding. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Los Angeles, CA, March 30-April 1, 2006.
• Paper [PDF - 8.8K]
• Presentation [PPT - 8.8K]

Unmarried Partner Households in the United States: Description and Trends 

• Abstract [PDF - 8.8K] , by Diana B. Elliott and Jane Lawler Dye. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Philadelphia, PA, March 31 to April 2, 2005.
• Poster [PDF - 8.8K]