Important AHS Announcement #3: New Variables, Updates, a Call for Ideas, and the Kickoff of 2019 AHS Fieldwork!

In this final message in the series describing major updates to AHS products for 2011-2017, HUD and Census announce the release of new mortgage and housing cost variables, updates to the 'Getting Started' guide, the launch of field work for the 2019 AHS, and a reminder to submit your ideas for 2021 topical modules.

Please read these messages carefully as they each contain valuable information!

Mortgage and housing cost variables in the 2015 and 2017 Public Use Files microdata

Many of you are aware that HUD and Census withheld numerous mortgage and housing cost variables from the 2015 and 2017 AHS Public Use Files (PUF) microdata. These variables were withheld due to disclosure (re-identification) concerns.

HUD and Census are pleased to announce that we have obtained approval to release some of these previously withheld variables. To obtain approval for release, we injected some of these variables with statistical noise. These variables are now available on the latest versions of the integrated national sample and metropolitan areas oversample PUFs microdata for 2015 (v3.0) and 2017 (v2.0). The table below lists the previously released variables and those that are now available. For a list of variables in each topic and subtopic, please see the AHS Codebook.

*Variables with noise injection
**Variable using the noise-injected values of its components.

Updates to "Getting Started with the Public Use File: 2015 and Beyond"

Along with releasing the new variables, we have made a number of minor edits to the "Getting Started with the Public Use File: 2015 and Beyond" Guide. One update to note is the discussion of the statistical noise injection for the mortgage and housing cost variables. A longer report describing the noise injection process is coming soon.

Topical module ideas for the 2021 AHS

We are still accepting ideas for topical modules to include in the 2021 AHS. If you have an idea, please email shawn.j.bucholtz@hud.gov to set up a discussion.

2019 AHS field work start date

The field work for the 2019 AHS is scheduled to begin in late June! The Census Bureau is busy recruiting field representatives to collect data. HUD and Census are looking forward to a successful 2019 AHS and to publishing 2019 AHS data in mid-to-late 2020.

Thank you for your continued interest in the American Housing Survey. The AHS team is committed to making it as easy as possible to access and use AHS data. We want to hear from you. If you have questions or suggestions, call us at 1-800-245-2691 or email us at helpdesk@huduser.gov.