get_acs_pums
Download ACS microdata files from the Census Bureau FTP and convert them to .dta format.
Description
get_acs_pums downloads American Community Survey public use microdata CSV files from the Census Bureau FTP and converts them to Stata’s .dta format.
If state() is not specified, the program will retrieve the national dataset. Downloading the data for the entire U.S. can take several hours. The national dataset is split into several CSV files. get_acs_pums appends them into a single .dta file.
Datasets will be saved in “acs_pums/[year]/[sample]_yr” within the current working directory (the default) or in another directory the user specifies with the dest_dir() option. For example, get_acs_pums, state(vt) year(2022) sample(5) record_type(h) dest_dir(my_data) would save files in “my_data/acs_pums/2022/5_yr”, creating intermediate directories as needed.
State .dta files are named the same as the original CSV files: “psam_[record_type][state_fips_code]” for 2017 and later, and “ss[year][record_type][state]” for earlier years. National .dta files are named “psam_[record_type]us.dta” for 2017 and later, and “ss[year][record_type]us.dta” for earlier years.
If year() is 2013 or later, datasets will be labeled with information from the ACS PUMS data dictionaries by default.
Syntax
get_acs_pums, year(integer) [options]| Option | Description |
|---|---|
year(integer) |
Data year to retrieve. With sample(1), 2005 to the most recent available, excluding 2020. With sample(5), 2009 to the most recent available. |
sample(integer) |
Sample to retrieve; 1 for the 1-year sample (the default) or 5 for the 5-year sample. |
state(string) |
Postal abbreviation of the state to retrieve (case insensitive). |
record_type(string) |
Record type to retrieve; “person”, “household”, or “both” (the default). Abbreviations “h”, “hhld”, “hous”, “p”, and “pers” are also accepted. |
nolabel |
Do not attach variable or value labels to the dataset. |
dest_dir() |
Directory in which to save the retrieved data. Default is the current working directory. |
keep_zip |
Downloaded ZIP files will not be deleted after .dta files are created. |
keep_all |
Downloaded ZIP files and unzipped CSV files will not be deleted after .dta files are created. |
replace |
Existing .dta, CSV, and ZIP files will be replaced. |
Examples
Retrieve person and household records for the District of Columbia.
get_acs_pums, state("dc") year(2022)Retrieve household records from the 2022 5-year sample for Vermont, preserving the ZIP and CSV files.
get_acs_pums, state("vt") year(2022) sample(5) record_type("household") keep_allRetrieve person records from the 1-year national sample and save the files to “my_datasets”
get_acs_pums, year(2022) record_type("p") dest_dir("my_datasets")