# Difference between sum of ASECWT and U.S. population

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/difference-between-sum-of-asecwt-and-u-s-population/4130>\
**Category:** CPS\
**Created:** [May 12, 2021, 8:39pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/difference-between-sum-of-asecwt-and-u-s-population/4130 "2021-05-12T20:39:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bgall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@bgall](https://forum.ipums.org/u/bgall)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 8:39pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/difference-between-sum-of-asecwt-and-u-s-population/4130/1 "2021-05-12T20:39:46Z")

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The sum of ASECWT in the 2020 ASEC is about 240 million. I am assuming this number is lower than the 330ish million U.S. population found elsewhere as it reflects the adult non-institutional population living in the USA rather than all persons living in the USA?

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**Author:** ![KariWilliams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@KariWilliams](https://forum.ipums.org/u/KariWilliams)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/difference-between-sum-of-asecwt-and-u-s-population/4130/2 "2021-05-13T16:30:59Z")

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When I sum the ASECWT values for the 2020 ASEC I am getting ~325 million; this roughly corresponds to the civilian non-institutionalized population (which is the target population of the CPS–see page 2 of the [2020 ASEC codebook](https://cps.ipums.org/cps/resources/codebooks/cpsmar20.pdf)). I wonder if you are restricting your sample based on age or some other characteristic and if this is the source of the lower sum you are seeing. Using 2019 1-year ACS data, I estimate ~239 million persons are aged 15 and older and have no military service (though this count excludes veterans and persons who are Training for reserves or National Guard).