Editor Hattis has more than a decade of experience writing for statistical and government research publications. In this work, she draws on that knowledge to offer guidance on the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). Since the decennial census was changed in 2010 to a more concise survey of American households, it has been supplemented by the more frequent ACS, which replicates the old census’s traditional long-form approach to data collecting and is intended to provide a sampling of key demographic data of the United States’ populace; this was the most substantial change to the census in more than 60 years. Now, in addition to the decennial census, the ACS surveys nearly 300,000 households in any given month. This information has long been utilized by local, state, and federal governmental researchers to evaluate populations and program needs. Hattis’s book includes research aids to help better understand the ACS and highlight what it can tell people about American society. There are also appendixes to further clarify data. This publication should be considered a useful and supplemental guide to the Census Bureau’s website, since it expands on the information found within it.

Library Journal

As in previous iterations, the tenth edition of The Who, What, and Where of America is built to guide users through the multitude of data available from the American Community Survey (ACS), which gathers data on a continuous basis (as opposed to its predecessor, the decennial census "long form"). This volume covers single-year estimates for 2021, the most recent data available, on communities with populations of 65,000 or more. After an introduction that describes the uses and limitations of the data, the book is divided into three sections, "Who" (age, race/ethnicity, household structure, etc.), "What" (education, employment, income), and "Where" (migration, housing, transportation). Each section begins with an introduction that gives a narrative overview of the data (e.g., the high rates of people working from home was likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic), followed by tables of data on population, median age, percentage of households on SNAP or with internet access, and much more. The volume repurposes data from the census website, but the easy-to-use format makes it an invaluable reference source.

Booklist