Guidance on Using 2020 Island Areas Censuses Data from the US Census

Due to COVID-19 restrictions impacting data collection for the 2020 Census of Guam, data users should consider the following when using Guam’s data tables:

– Data tables reporting social and economic characteristics do not include the group quarters population in the table As a result, impacted 2020 data tables should not be compared to 2010 and other past census data tables reporting the same characteristics. The Census Bureau advises data users to verify table universes are the same before comparing data across census years. For more information about data collection limitations and the impacts on Guam’s data tables, see Chapter 5 of the IAC Demographic Profile Summary File Technical Documentation. Please note, there will also be some additional table universe differences related to excluding housing units on military bases. See the technical documentation for more information.

– Cells in data tables will display the letter “N” when those data are not statistically reliable. A list of the geographic areas and data tables that will not have data displayed due to data quality concerns can be found in Chapter 5 of the IAC Demographic Profile Summary File Technical Documentation.

– The Census Bureau advises that data users consider high allocation rates while using the 2020 Census of Guam’s available characteristics data. Allocation rates—a measure of item nonresponse—are higher than past censuses. Final counts can be adversely impacted when an item’s allocation rate is high, and bias can be introduced if the characteristics of the nonrespondents differ from those reported by respondents. Allocation rates for Guam’s key population and housing characteristics can be found in Chapter 5 of the IAC Demographic Profile Summary File Technical Documentation.

Military Enumeration

Guam is the only Island Area with military housing and the only location where military enumeration was conducted. During military enumeration, the 2020 IAC collected person-level data of respondents in HUs, barracks/dormitories, military treatment facilities with assigned patients at the naval hospital, and TLs located inside the military installations of Joint Base Marianas (Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base). For this enumeration, only basic demographic questions were asked of each eligible person (name, age, and date of birth, Hispanic or Latino origin, race, relationship, and sex). Detailed person-level characteristics and HU information were not collected. As a result, data tables for these detailed characteristics will not include the population living on the military installations.