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Group Quarters

Overview

The ACS has special processes for gathering and reporting data about people who live in college dormitories, nursing facilities, military barracks, and correctional facilities.

While most of the tables in the American Community Survey deal with people living in houses, apartments, or even mobile homes and boats, all of which are "housing units," there is also data about persons living in college dormitories, nursing facilities, military barracks, and correctional facilities, all of which are considered "group quarters."

More generally, "group quarters" are defined as places where "people live or stay, in a group living arrangement, that is owned or managed by an entity or organization providing housing and/or services for the residents." (Census glossary) Persons who live in group quarters are not normally related to each other.

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

Indicators on the Profile Page

Why It's Important

Group Quarters
  • There are not yet group quarters 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
  • The needs of individuals living in group quarters may differ greatly from those living in more traditional housing and without identifying the size and location of these populations their need may never be met.
  • Learning about the prison population can be important for various reasons. For instance, it is sometimes argued that the communities around prisons unfairly benefit from the counted prisoners, even though the prisoners didn’t enjoy the benefits of increased funding and programming that the census counts provide to the area. Also, it’s important to understand when the prison population is counted in a survey, and when it is not. For example, if you are interested in the poverty-related data, it may be helpful to know that the American Community Survey’s estimate of poverty actually excludes people living in the institutional group quarters, which include people in prisons.

Methodology

American Community Survey Data

For a primer on this topic related to prisons, read our blog post 2020 Census: Who Gets Counted in the Prison Population?

For the ACS, the Census Bureau gathers data about group quarters circumstances through a different process than the main ACS questionnaire. In the first phase, they coordinate with the facility administrators to verify information. At that time, they also work with the facility to randomly select residents to participate in the ACS. Generally, those residents participate in a personal interview with an ACS field representative, although in some cases, participants respond via a paper questionnaire.

Table B26001 counts the number of persons in group quarters for a given geography. This is the only group quarters table widely available across different geographic summary levels.

The remaining tables in the subject are produced twice, once with three categories of facility, (3 Type tables), and once with five categories, (5 Type).

3 Type Table Categories

5 Type Table Categories

Total Population

Total Population
Group quarters population Group quarters population
Institutionalized group quarters population Institutionalized group quarters population
Adult correctional facilities Adult correctional facilities
Nursing facilities/skilled nursing facilities Nursing facilities/skilled nursing facilities
Juvenile facilities
Noninstitutionalized group quarters Noninstitutionalized group quarters
College/university student housing College/university student housing
Military quarters/military ships
Household population Household population

Although most of the category titles are self explanatory, a few may bear a little more explanation.

Adult Correctional Facilities is a term used to categorize a number of correctional facilities including federal and state prisons, local jails and federal detention centers.

Juvenile Facilities is a term used to describe locations such as group homes, residential treatment centers and correctional facilities for juveniles.

Household Population designates the number of persons not living in group quarters.

From the Census: American Community Survey: Group Quarters Data Collection

From the Census: 2018 ACS Group Quarters Form

From the Census: 2018 ACS Group Quarters Instructions

3 Types

All 3 Type table codes begin with 261. These tables are available at the national, divisional, regional and state levels, and have three detailed categories:

  • Adult correctional facilities
  • Nursing facilities/skilled nursing facilities
  • College/university student housing

Code

Title

Type 3
B26101 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Sex by Age
B26102 Median Age by Group Quarters Type (3 Types)
B26103† Group Quarters Type (3 Types)
B26104 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Marital Status
B26105 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by School Enrollment
B26106 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Educational Attainment
B26107 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Veteran Status
B26108 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Age by Disability Status
B26109§ Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Geographical Mobility in the Past Year for Current Residence in the United States
B26110 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Nativity and Citizenship Status by Sex
B26113 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English
B26114 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Employment Status
B26115 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Occupation
B26117 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Sex With Earnings
B26118 Aggregate Earnings by Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Sex
B26119 Median Earnings by Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Sex
B26120 Group Quarters Type (3 Types) by Receipt of Food Stamps/SNAP
†Also available in racial iterations.
§Tabulated for Puerto Rico. Add 'PR' to the table code. Column names may vary slightly from non-PR version.

5 Types

All 5 Type table codes begin with 262. Data is only provided at the national level but the tables contain five detailed categories:

  • Adult correctional facilities
  • Nursing facilities/skilled nursing facilities
  • Juvenile facilities
  • College/university student housing
  • Military quarters/military ships

Code

Title

Type 5
B26201 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Sex by Age
B26202 Median Age by Group Quarters Type (5 Types)
B26203† Group Quarters Type (5 Types)
B26204 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Marital Status
B26205 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by School Enrollment
B26206 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Educational Attainment
B26207 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Veteran Status
B26208 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Age by Disability Status
B26209 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Geographical Mobility in the Past Year for Current Residence in the United States
B26210 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Nativity and Citizenship Status by Sex
B26211 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Year of Entry
B26212 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by World Region of Birth
B26213 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English
B26214 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Employment Status
B26215 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Occupation
B26216 Aggregate Income by Group Quarters Type (5 Types)
B26217 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Sex With Earnings
B26218 Aggregate Earnings by Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Sex
B26219 Median Earnings by Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Sex
B26220 Group Quarters Type (5 Types) by Receipt of Food Stamps/SNAP
†Also available in racial iterations.