The American Community Survey (ACS) is a new nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing. It is a critical element in the Census Bureau's reengineered decennial census program. The ACS collects population and housing information every year instead of every ten years, which provides more up-to-date information throughout the decade about the U.S. population at the local community level. The ACS collects information such as age, race, income, commute time to work, home value, veteran status, and other important data, and is comparable to Summary File 3 in Census 2000.

The 2006 data products include estimates of demographic, social, and economic characteristics of people, households and housing units (both occupied and vacant) for every state in the Nation,Puerto Rico, and most areas with a population of 65,000 or more.

About three million housing unit addresses are selected annually, from across every county in the nation.