According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) are statistical geographic areas defined for the dissemination of Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data. They are also used for disseminating American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Survey period estimates. These files contain records for a sample of housing units with information on the characteristics of each unit and each person in it. While preserving confidentiality (by removing identifiers), these microdata files permit users with special data needs to prepare virtually any tabulation. PUMS files are available from the American Community Survey and the Decennial Census. For more information, see https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/pumas.html.
