American Housing Survey

The AHS is conducted by the Census Bureau for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The same housing units are surveyed each year, providing continuity that increases the usefulness of the data set. The sample has been the same since 1985. The AHS provides national data every two years and each year provides data for a rotating set of 12 metropolitan areas. The national data, published in years ending in odd numbers, is based on a survey of the same group of 55,000 housing units. The local data is taken from a sample of 4,800 units from 47 selected metropolitan areas.