I am looking for data on population by Ancestry at a county level or below and found ACS tables B04004, B04005, B04006. I was surprised that there is no detail on Asian ancestries. I assume they are all grouped into the large "Other groups" category but don't understand why they are not broken out. I reviewed the subject definitions and code lists documents but these did not shed any light. Hoping someone can help explain why, and if there's somewhere else I can look.
Hello,
Thank you for your question. Ancestry and race data can be a little tricky. You can find estimates for detailed Asian groups within the race data from the American Community Survey (ACS). Table B02018 has estimates for Chinese, Asian Indian, and many other Asian groups in the United States.
The race question on the ACS, and a similar one on the decennial census, has specific checkboxes for several Asian groups, and a write-in area where data other Asian groups are collected. The race data are the official data for the Asian population and detailed Asian groups. The race question also provides data for the White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Some Other Race populations. The race question provides detailed data on Asian groups such as Chinese or Korean, American Indian tribes or Alaska Native groups such as Cherokee or Aleut, and Pacific Islander groups such as Samoan or Chamorro. Likewise, the Hispanic origin question provides detailed data on the Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban populations, as well as other Hispanic groups.
The ancestry data tables such as B04006 present estimates for ethnic groups NOT detailed from the data products showing race and Hispanic origin. So it shows Italian, Nigerian, and Guyanese, for instance. This is to avoid releasing two different estimates for each group.
I hope this helps. Feel free to reach out if you have additional questions.
Thanks,
Ryan