New 2020 Census Data Product Planning Crosswalk - Feedback requested; Webinar Planned Sept. 30

Registered United States Census Bureau Logo
Privacy lock

New 2020 Census Data Product Planning Crosswalk - Feedback Requested; Webinar Sept. 30

Gray Divider

SEPT. 16, 2021 — Today, the Census Bureau released the updated 2020 Census Data Product Planning Crosswalk (Crosswalk). The Crosswalk compares the 2020 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File tables and proposed 2020 Census Demographic Profile, Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (DHC), and Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (Detailed DHC) tables to the published 2010 Census tables. The Crosswalk demonstrates progress on the 2020 Census data products and provides a resource to data users when providing feedback on the DHC and Detailed DHC.

We ask that you submit your comments using the subject "2020 Census data products" by Friday, October 22 to: 2020DAS@census.gov. In particular, we are seeking feedback on DHC use cases for lower levels of geography (e.g., block and block group) and feedback on the Detailed DHC as we finalize the contents and available geographies.

Please join us for a webinar on Tuesday, September 30 at 3 p.m. ET. We’ll walk through information in the Crosswalk and take your questions. Login details will follow closer to the date.

We’ll also be providing an update on our data product release plans on Friday, September 24, at 11:10 a.m. ET, at the Census Scientific Advisory Committee (CSAC) fall meeting. You can watch the presentation via live stream. Tune in to learn more about changes under consideration for the DHC, external engagement strategy, and the development timeline, including target decision points by the Data Stewardship Executive Policy Committee (DSEP) and target demonstration data release plans.

Gray Divider

Included in the Crosswalk file:

  • READ ME tab: This tab provides an overview of the Crosswalk along with important contextual information.
  • Crosswalk tabs: There are separate Crosswalk tabs listing the final 2020 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File (“PL”) table titles and proposed table titles for the Demographic Profile, DHC, and Detailed DHC. The 2020 PL and proposed Demographic Profile tables are compared to their 2010 counterparts. The 2020 DHC compares to 2010 Summary File 1 (SF1). The 2020 Detailed DHC compares to 2010 Summary File 2 (SF2) and the American Indian and Alaska Native Summary File (AIANSF) except for eight tables that were moved from DHC to Detailed DHC. These eight tables compare back to 2010 SF1. In addition, each Crosswalk tab includes columns that indicate: 
      • 2010 actual and 2020 proposed table numbers. These columns allow data users to identify 2010 and proposed 2020 table numbers. Tables not included in 2010 or not proposed for 2020 are noted with “N/A”.   
      • Title. This column allows data users to identify the proposed 2020 table title. If the table is not being proposed for 2020, it represents the 2010 table title.
    • 2010 actual and 2020 proposed lowest level of geography. These columns easily allow data users to identify changes in lowest level of geography from 2010 to 2020. Note that inclusion of a proposed geography level does not guarantee it will be the final geography level. Lowest level of geography is under discussion, and we are requesting feedback on use cases for lower levels of geography.
    • Proposed for inclusion. This column easily allows data users to identify which tables are proposed and not proposed for inclusion in the specified 2020 data product. The DHC and Detailed DHC Crosswalk tabs also have columns comparing between those two products.
    • Content changes since 2010. This column is specific to the DHC Crosswalk because other data product contents have not significantly changed since 2010. This column briefly explains major content changes since 2010, such as adding more relationship detail or collapsing age detail or household type. To see the exact change, compare the DHC table shell (via DHC Tables tab) to the 2010 table shell (via data.census.gov or 2010 Census Summary File 1 technical documentation).
    • Proposed iterations for detailed race, ethnicity, and tribes. This column is specific to the Detailed DHC Crosswalk because it is the only data product that includes data on detailed race and ethnicity groups and American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages. The iteration list is not in the Crosswalk because it is under development but will be drawn from “Appendix F. Hispanic Origin and Race Code List”
  • Table tabs: The Crosswalk includes separate tabs that detail the final PL table shells and proposed table shells for the Demographic Profiles, DHC, and Detailed DHC. It allows data users to view every line in the proposed table.
  • Change Log tab: This tab notes major differences between the initial Crosswalk released in October 2019 and the current Crosswalk released in September 2021. 
Gray Divider

How to Submit Feedback

In 2018, the Census Bureau issued a Federal Register notice to obtain initial feedback on the 2020 Census data products that would be available in what we are now referring to as the DHC. Since that time, our data users have become much more familiar with both the functionality of the 2020 Disclosure Avoidance System. We are especially interested in feedback on uses of the DHC tables at lower levels of geography, such as census blocks and block groups.

In addition, we have made substantial progress on the Detailed DHC. The Crosswalk provides data users the opportunity to view the list of proposed Detailed DHC tables and table contents for the first time. Still, much of this work is underway, and the Crosswalk does not include proposed population thresholds, an iteration list, and some geographies.

We invite you to provide feedback for the ongoing Detailed DHC work. The data product feedback that we received in 2019 and 2020 helped us revise our plans to better meet our data users’ needs, and this feedback was implemented in the updated Crosswalk. However, additional feedback would assist us, especially as we begin the complex process of assigning privacy-loss budget to the tables and queries associated with the 2020 Census data products.

Earlier data user feedback addressed a wide range of use cases for the data contained in the DHC. For example, the creation of population estimates at local and regional levels, school district and city planning, and funding allocation at the federal, state, and local levels. All of that previous feedback will also inform our decision-making. Still, we encourage data users to provide new, complementary, or supplemental feedback while considering the accuracy and privacy-loss budget tradeoff.

Again, please aim to submit your feedback by Friday, October 22 via 2020DAS@census.gov.

Gray Divider

Useful Links:

 


Was this forwarded to you?

Sign up to receive your own copy!

Sign Up!


Contact Us

About Disclosure Avoidance Modernization

The Census Bureau is protecting 2020 Census data products with a powerful new cryptography-inspired disclosure avoidance system known as “differential privacy.” We are committed to producing 2020 Census data products that are of the same high quality you've come to expect while protecting respondent confidentiality from emerging threats in today's digital world. 

 

Share This