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Ancestry

Overview

The ACS gathers data on self-reported ancestry, whether or not respondents were born in the United States.

The ACS asks each respondent to write their ancestry or ethnic origin, and records up to two ancestries per person (the first two ancestries written by the respondent).

Ancestry does not necessarily equate with place of birth, as a person can be generations removed from the ancestors they choose to identify with. Some respondents also write “American” as their ancestry for various reasons, whether their ancestors have been in the United States for a long time or they are foreign born but consider themselves part of American society.

Note: Separately from the ancestry question, Census allows people to specify their race with detailed answers which can be the same as answers for ancestry. See our Race and Hispanic Origin page for some more information. At this time, we can't make a recommendation about when to use each table. Some discussion of the two questions can be found in the Pew Research Center's 2015 report, "Multiracial in America"

All data sources are from the American Community Survey unless otherwise noted.

Indicators on the Profile Page

Why It's Important

Ancestry
  • There are not yet ancestry indicators on the profile page
  • If this data is of interest to you, contact us at AskD3 to start a discussion on how we can help
  • This information can be used to enforce nondiscrimination and equal opportunity laws.
  • This is the best data that the Census Bureau currently provides on the prevalence of certain demographic groups (for example, Middle Eastern or North African) that are not well-captured through other areas of the survey. Note that while it is very detailed, the Ancestry table does not provide detailed information on many Asian or Latin American identities.

Methodology

From the Census: Why We Ask: Ancestry

Sample Survey Questions on this Topic

The table for People Reporting Single Ancestry (B04004) shows data for those who reported only one ancestry, while People Reporting Multiple Ancestry (B04005) shows data for those who reported more than one ancestry. People Reporting Ancestry (B04006) shows data for those who reported any ancestry, regardless of whether it was the only ancestry or part of multiple ancestries they reported.

Code

Title

Ancestry
B04004‡ Sex by Age
B04005‡ Median Age by Sex
B04006‡ Total Population
B04007‡ Total Population
‡Table also available in "collapsed" version: change "B" to "C" for table code.

Note: this means that values in B04005 and B04006 will not necessarily add up to match totals, because one person may be represented under more than one ancestry.