Bottom codes for INCINVST in ACS

USA
1

Hi all,

I wanted to mention a discrepancy in the documentation for INCINVST. The variable codes description, indicates that the bottom code in ACS is -9999. The page on ACS top and bottom codes by state states that: “Income amounts which can have negative values (SEMP and INTP) are bottom-coded using the state mean of all cases less than or equal to the bottom-code state maximum value.”

That latter is consistent with the data (I’ve only looked at NY in 2023) and the spreadsheet of state-specific codes.

I think there is a similar documentation discrepancy for INCBUS00.

Thanks!

2

Thank you for bringing this discrepancy in the documentation to our attention.

After review, it appears that the -9999 bottom code for INCINVEST and INCBUS00 (INTP and SEM in the PUMS) was used in ACS samples from 2000-2008. Starting with the 2009 ACS, the bottom codes for these variables are instead set by state to the mean of all cases less than or equal to a state-level threshold value. As you note, these threshold values as well as the bottom codes for each sample are available on the ACS top and bottom codes by state documentation page. I shared your note with my colleagues who will update the documentation in a future release.