ACS data download at zip code level

Assuming you already know which table(s) you want, you can get ZCTA (ZIP Code Tabulation Areas) for 2016 5 year ACS by
going to Factfinder.Census.gov,
clicking on "advanced search",
then "show me all",
then click "Geographies" on the left side,
select "5 Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area- 860" (ZCTA) (ignore that fact that "5 digit ZIP code" is an option, as it is not available for ACS and therefore won't give you any options to select ACS data if you choose it),
then select "ALL 5 Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Areas in the United States and Puerto Rico",
click the "Add to your selections" button,
click close (for the geographic selection window).

You will then see ALL the tables available, and you can filter these by entering a "topic or table name".

I would suggest that you play around using a smaller set of ZCTAs (like all within a county or a smaller state) before you try downloading ALL of them, just so you can explore the file download options and make sure you can open it and get what you expect in the program you are going to read it into. All or which will be less unwieldy with a smaller data set.

Hi Peter,

I am not able to find ZCTA geography level data via API (base URL: api.census.gov/.../acs1)
However, I do see the data at ZCTA level on factfinder website.
Is this not available via API?

But I could see the data at ZCTA level for ACS 5 year Detailed tables - 2011 (https://api.census.gov/data/2011/acs/acs5)

Did they discontinue ZCTA level data API after that?
Could you please help me here.

ZCTAs are not included in the 1-year data release, because only ~250 ZCTAs (out of ~33000) surpass the 65,000 population threshold required for inclusion in the 1-year data release.

Change "acs1" to "acs5" in your example and you should have better results.

HI Joe,

Thanks for your inputs.
I could see data at ZCTA level for 5 year estimates.

Regards,
Shiva

HI Joe,

Thanks for your inputs.
I could see data at ZCTA level for 5 year estimates.

Regards,
Shiva