Skip Header
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Analysis

Custom Data Table Tool Frequently Asked Questions

Last Updated: October 25, 2022
Share on X

The FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households supports the FDIC's commitment to expanding Americans' access to safe, secure, and affordable banking services, which is integral to the FDIC's mission of maintaining the stability of and public confidence in the U.S. financial system. Conducted biennially since 2009 partly in response to a statutory mandate, the survey is administered in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau.

You can use this tool to explore the data from all years of the household survey.

Resources:   Household Survey Home | Custom Data Table Tool | Instructions

FAQs

What does the custom data table tool offer that is not in the full report?

The custom data tool allows you to create your own tables, including tables that are not in the full report.

How do I create a table?

Start by selecting the year, geography, and analysis variable (first the topic and then the specific variable of interest). Clicking the Get Table button produces a basic table. Once the basic table has been created, you can further refine the table by using the Change Row Variables or Add Filter button. You can download the table on the screen as a PDF or spreadsheet (CSV). For more details, see the Custom Data Table Tool Instructions.

What is meant by "Analysis Variable"? What is the difference between a topic and a variable?

The analysis variable is the household behavior or subject of interest, such as Unbanked, Most common way to access account, or Used prepaid card. For ease of use, the tool organizes variables by common subject matter or topic. For example, the topic "Bank Account Ownership" includes variables such as Unbanked, Previously banked, and Main reason unbanked. Due to changes in the survey over time, not all variables are available in each year.

What time periods or survey waves are included in the custom data table tool?

The custom data table tool includes data from each year of the survey (biennially since 2009). “Multiyear” generates a table that consists of single-year estimates for multiple years, allowing you to compare certain variables across multiple surveys. The custom data table tool contains many, but not all, of the variables from each year.

Where can I find unbanked and underbanked rates?

For each survey year, unbanked and underbanked rates can be found under the topic, “Bank Account Ownership.” Underbanked rates are not available for the multiyear option because of changes in the definition of underbanked between the 2021 and previous surveys.

Where can I find variables on alternative financial services (AFS) use?

Variables on transaction AFS use (e.g., use of nonbank money orders in the past 12 months) can be found under the topic, “Nonbank Financial Transaction Services.” Variables on credit AFS use (e.g., use of payday loans in the past 12 months) can be found under the topic, “Bank and Nonbank Credit.”

How are the racial and ethnic categories defined?

For the 2019 report, racial and ethnic categories were revised to be consistent with U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards for the classification of race and ethnicity and with Current Population Survey (CPS) tabulations of race and ethnicity. All default tables (regardless of the year selected) display estimates for the racial and ethnic categories used in the 2019 and later reports (see Appendix 1 of the 2019 report for a description of these racial and ethnic categories). To generate a table (for any year) with the racial and ethnic categories used in the 2017 and previous reports (see Appendix I of the 2013 report for a description of these racial and ethnic categories), create a default table, then click the Change Row Variables or Add Filter button, then click the Demographic button under Additional Row Variables, then check the box in front of “Race/Ethnicity (previous definition),” and then click the Update Table button.

What is a “filter” and how do I use this function?

A filter allows you to further refine the data by limiting the view of the entire data to certain aspects of one or two variables within the data, such as households that were unbanked and that used prepaid cards. After generating the initial table, you can select filter variables by clicking the Change Row Variables or Add Filter button located just above the table. You can select up to two filters. For each filter selection, select a topic, variable, and the value(s) of the variable to filter on.

How do I interpret the table output?

The output is best understood by reading left to right across the columns. The first column identifies the group of households (e.g., “All households” or “Black households”), the second column presents the estimated number of households in the group, the third column is always 100, and the remaining columns give the proportion of households in each categorical value of the analysis variable (e.g., for the variable “Unbanked” the categories are “Unbanked” and “Has bank account”).

What should I do if my table shows NA or "Not enough observations to provide estimates for this table. Please select a broader geography or remove additional filters."?

These messages may display if there are not enough observations to provide a precise estimate. Consider using the Five-Year Estimates Table Tool to get the estimate of interest. See the Five-Year Estimates Table Tool Frequently Asked Questions for details.

What does the multiyear option of the tool do?

The multiyear option generates a table that consists of single-year estimates for multiple years, allowing you to compare certain variables across multiple surveys.

Why do some of the 2013-2017 estimates I obtained through the custom data table tool differ from estimates that I had obtained prior to the release of the 2021 survey data for the same variable and year?

In the 2013 and later surveys, nonresponse to individual survey questions (i.e., item nonresponse) was addressed through imputation, consistent with the Census Bureau's treatment of missing values in the CPS. For a given question, item nonresponse occurred when a household refused to answer the question, responded “don't know,” or dropped out of the survey before the question was administered (i.e., the household broke off). For nearly all missing values in the 2013 and later surveys, the Census Bureau implemented “hot deck” allocation, replacing a missing value for a particular question with a response to the same question provided by a household with similar characteristics. See Appendix 1 of the 2021 report for additional details. Missing values in the 2009 and 2011 surveys were not imputed.

Estimates using 2013, 2015, and 2017 survey data may not match previously published estimates because missing values in the 2013, 2015, and 2017 survey data were replaced with imputed data at the time of the release of the 2021 survey data.

How do I download the table I have generated?

Once the table is created in the custom data table tool, save the table as a PDF or spreadsheet (CSV) by clicking the appropriate file type next to Download As above or below the table.

Can I download all the data instead of using this tool?

Yes, all datasets may be downloaded through the Data Downloads and Resources page. Once downloaded, you will need to employ a statistical analysis package to process the data.

How do I contact technical support?

For additional information, please see the Custom Data Table Tool Instructions. You may also submit a question or a request for technical support.