I have two questions:
Is it possible to ACS downoad data for only one state - or do I need to download all national data?
The ACS data appears to combine the Housing record (which contains geography) and the Person record. So If /when I download the data - will it combine the household (geography, family size and composition) and person data (race, age, occupation etc.)?
It is possible to download ACS data for only one state by using the Select Cases option. Before you submit your extract on the Extract Request screen, choose “Select cases”, select STATEFIP, and highlight the STATEFIP value of interest. Then, you can simply submit your extract as normal. The generated data extract will have data for only the state you selected.
The default data structure is rectangular. In other words, the information contained in the household variables are merged onto each person record within the household. This is the format preferred by most researchers; however, the extraction system includes the option of hierarchical data or household record only data.
Hope this helps.