Current Population Survey (USA)

• Data description
• Time period
• Support links
• How to access data  

Data description

The Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, provides monthly data on employment, earnings, educational attainment, income, poverty, health insurance and other socio-economic variables for approximately 50,000 American households. Respondents are interviewed about the employment status of each household member over fifteen years of age. The sample provides estimates for all federal states and the USA as a whole.

Time period

• 1994-2018: available via the CPS download platform
• CPS elaborated files are also available via the ICPSR data archive (download by EUI Library administrator; see below).

Support links

• Full details of the Current Population Survey are on the CPS homepage 
• The Census Bureau Data Ferret analysis and extraction software is explained on this page (accessible only via Internet Explorer and Firefox).

How to access data

1994-2018 data is available via the CPS download platform.

EUI members also have access to CPS elaborated files via the ICPSR data archive:

• Locate the required data Study Number(s) in the ICPSR data holdings catalogue
• Send the Study Number(s) by e-mail to [email protected] indicating the format in which the data should be delivered (Stata, SAS &c.)
• Instructions on using ZIP files to compress and decompress data are on this ICT page
• Users should carefully read the University of Michigan ICPSR Responsible Use statement
• Consult the online Tutorial on Loading and Using Data on Windows.

CPS files on the EUI server are in Stata *.dta format. Consult this online Tutorial on Loading and Using Data on Windows.

Data homepage

Contact: Thomas Bourke at [email protected]