Hello, I am downloading linked census data on my mac and the download speed is incredibly slow even though other downloads are fine. Any advice please?
Your download speed for the linked full count file is likely slow due to the file’s size. I recommend decreasing the size of your data download. This can be done by selecting fewer samples, fewer variables, including only linked persons instead of all respondents, and/or by using the customize sample sizes tool to draw smaller random subsets of some or all of the samples in your extract (see instructions here).
You can also use the select cases tool on the extract options page to include only certain types of people or households (see instructions here). This will allow you to break your desired file into multiple extracts that will each download faster and then can be reassembled on your computer. However, users should be cautious in performing case selection on time-variant characteristics – such as age, marital status, or state of residence – since this risks excluding some observations for a person. An individual may be linked in a census year, but the observation will be dropped if they do not meet the additional selection criteria in that specific census.