I came across some documentation that when comparing ACS 5-year estimates, the earlier estimate needs to be adjusted for inflation. See Chapter 10 (USING DOLLAR-DENOMINATED DATA) in the following document:
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2018/acs/acs_general_handbook_2018.pdf
My question is about this statement on p. 66 of the PDF: “The recommended inflation adjustment uses a national-level CPI and, thus, will not reflect inflation differences that may exist across different geographic areas.”
I am wondering whether this adjustment still applies since I am using census tract, county, and state-level (vs. national-level) data. In addition, I’m wondering if there is an issue in using a national-level CPI to adjust lower-level data.