Quick Hits

• The Census Bureau published a request for comment on its proposal to implement the updated race and ethnicity categories for federal data collection in the 2027 American Community Survey.
• The agency had considered implementing the updated race and ethnicity categories in either 2026 or 2027.
• The agency said it will also consider bridging techniques—called “crosswalking”—to generate a limited set of experimental data on the new categories, likely for data from 2022-2026.
• Comments on the implementation timeline are being accepted until August 12, 2024.

On July 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau published a request for comment in the Federal Register seeking input on a proposal to adopt the new race and ethnicity standards that allow respondents to select multiple categories with which they identify by the 2027 collection cycle for the American Community Survey (ACS). The agency said the new standards would be implemented in ACS products by 2027, with dissemination in 2028.

The ACS monthly survey collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data from more than 3 million homes in the United States and Puerto Rico. Federal and state government agencies use this information to evaluate federal programs and distribute funding. The data further impacts decision-making by businesses.

New Race and Ethnicity Categories

In March 2024, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published revisions to the “Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity” (SPD 15), the first substantive updates since 1997. The revisions took effect immediately, but OMB gave federal agencies eighteen months to submit action plans for compliance and is requiring compliance with data collection programs within five years, by March 28, 2029.

The updated standards combined questions about race and ethnicity into one inquiry in which respondents can select multiple categories with which they identify. Additionally, the updates added “Middle Eastern or North African” (MENA) as a new “minimum reporting category” as a separate category from “White.”

The prior standards had required respondents to select an ethnicity as either “Hispanic or Latino” or “Not Hispanic or Latino,” and then select a race category (i.e., “American Indian or Alaskan Native,” “Asian,” “Black or African American,” “Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander,” or “White”).

Census Bureau Proposal

In its request for comment, the Census Bureau stated that after considering implementing the standards for either the 2026 or 2027 ACS collection cycle, the agency is now targeting 2027 for the “implementation in the full suite of ACS data products … with dissemination of data products to then begin in 2028.”

The agency proposed implementation in 2027 after assessing the cost, risk, and benefit of implementing the new standards in either the 2026 or 2027 data collection cycle.

“Implementing the 2024 SPD 15 as quickly as possible must be balanced against the risks of major errors. Information gathered through this request for public comment will allow the Census Bureau to update this assessment to include additional costs, risks, and benefits faced by non-Federal users of ACS data,” the agency stated.

In the meantime, the Census Bureau said it is considering “utilizing bridging techniques, or crosswalking, to produce a limited set of experimental data products” earlier than 2027.

Next Steps

The new race and ethnicity categories have implications for employers, specifically those that rely on them for federal reporting compliance. The data can also have implications for some workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. However, the Census Bureau’s request for comments reveals it may take years for federal agencies to incorporate the changes.

At this time, there are no action items for employers, but it will be interesting to see the timelines that various agencies propose for incorporating the new race and ethnicity categories into their federal information collection efforts. Employers may want to consider how the new race and ethnicity categories will impact their compliance and recordkeeping obligations in the future.

The Census Bureau is seeking comments on “the timeline to implement the updated race and ethnicity standards into the ACS” and feedback on the impact of implementation by either 2026 or 2027 regarding risks to the quality of the data collected.

Comments are being accepted until August 12, 2024, and may be submitted here.