The NLSY97 Sample: An Introduction

Official title

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), part of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) program.

Age of cohort

Born between 1980 and 1984. At the time of first interview, respondents' ages ranged from 12 to 18. The respondents were 36 to 42 at the time of their round 20 interviews. (Round 20 is the most recent data release, fielded in 2021-2022.)

Number of respondents in survey

8,984 individuals initially interviewed in round 1. About 75 percent (6,713) of the round 1 sample were interviewed in round 20. Click below for an overview of sample sizes by round.

Scroll right to view additional table columns.

Round/ Sex		Total Sample	Cross-sectional					Supplemental
Round/ Sex		Total Sample	Cross-sectional Total	Non-black, non-Hispanic	Black, non-Hispanic	Hispanic or Latino	Mixed Race	Supple-mental Total	Black, non-Hispanic	Hispanic or Latino	Mixed Race
R1	Male	4599	3459	2413	537	469	40	1140	632	508
	Female	4385	3289	2252	544	452	41	1096	622	472	2
	Total	8984	6748	4665	1081	921	81	2236	1254	980	2
R2	Male	4283	3213	2238	504	433	38	1070	599	471
	Female	4103	3066	2095	517	417	37	1037	584	451	2
	Total	8386	6279	4333	1021	850	75	2107	1183	922	2
R3	Male	4169	3143	2193	490	421	39	1026	572	454
	Female	4039	3029	2076	503	412	38	1010	568	441	1
	Total	8208	6172	4269	993	8330	77	2036	1140	895	1
R4	Male	4116	3097	2153	485	422	37	1019	580	439
	Female	3964	2957	2027	489	402	39	1007	570	435	2
	Total	8080	6054	4180	974	824	76	2026	1150	874	2
R5	Male	3988	3011	2110	455	410	36	977	541	436
	Female	3894	2907	1991	478	401	37	987	558	427	2
	Total	7882	5918	4101	933	811	73	1964	1099	863	2
R6	Male	3997	2995	2083	466	410	36	1002	567	435
	Female	3899	2903	1973	486	408	36	996	568	426	2
	Total	7896	5898	4056	952	818	72	1998	1135	861	2
R7	Male	3928	2951	2060	460	395	36	977	555	422
	Female	3826	2831	1916	482	396	37	995	564	429	2
	Total	7754	5782	3976	942	791	73	1972	1119	851	2
R8	Male	3732	2816	1966	433	383	34	916	506	410
	Female	3770	2784	1866	491	390	37	986	563	421	2
	Total	7502	5600	3832	924	773	71	1902	1069	831	2
R9	Male	3663	2731	1907	424	367	33	932	523	409
	Female	3675	2706	1823	473	376	34	969	561	406	2
	Total	7338	5437	3730	897	743	67	1901	1084	815	2
R10	Male	3803	2850	1988	445	385	32	953	535	418
	Female	3756	2774	1867	490	380	37	982	567	413	2
	Total	7559	5624	3855	935	765	69	1935	1102	831	2
R11	Male	3735	2803	1954	441	374	34	932	519	413
	Female	3683	2718	1826	483	376	33	965	552	411	2
	Total	7418	5521	3780	924	750	67	1897	1071	824	2
R12	Male	3767	2819	1963	443	379	34	948	533	415
	Female	3723	2741	1834	486	385	36	982	564	416	2
	Total	7490	5560	3797	929	764	70	1930	1097	831	2
R13	Male	3785	2835	1957	454	388	36	950	519	431
	Female	3774	2781	1859	495	391	36	993	569	422	2
	Total	7559	5616	3816	949	779	72	1943	1088	853	2
R14	Male	3765	2816	1941	458	382	35	949	527	422
	Female	3714	2728	1819	490	384	35	986	568	416	2
	Total	7479	5544	3760	948	766	70	1935	1095	838	2
R15	Male	3743	2792	1910	461	387	34	951	532	419
	Female	3680	2709	1802	486	386	35	971	557	412	2
	Total	7423	5501	3712	947	773	69	1922	1089	831	2
R16	Male	3545	2647	1814	431	368	34	898	509	389
	Female	3596	2638	1756	480	370	32	958	553	404	1
	Total	7141	5285	3570	911	738	66	1856	1062	793	1
R17	Male	3524	2630	1792	438	367	33	894	506	388
	Female	3579	2641	1751	486	371	33	938	542	394	2
	Total	7103	5271	3543	924	738	66	1832	1048	782	2
R18	Male	3267	2458	1701	391	335	31	809	469	340
	Female	3467	2560	1713	460	353	34	907	520	387
	Total	6734	5018	3414	851	688	65	1716	989	727
R19	Male	3416	2565	1780	411	341	33	851	487	364
	Female	3531	2603	1747	464	363	29	928	530	398
	Total	6947	5168	3527	875	704	62	1779	1017	762
R20	Male	3288	2456	1700	405	325	26	832	480	352
	Female	3425	2511	1675	454	352	30	914	524	390
	Total	6713	4967	3375	859	677	56	1746	1004	742
Note: This table was created using the following variables: CV_SAMPLE_TYPE (R12358.), KEY!RACE_ETHNICITY (R14826.), KEY!SEX (R05363.), and RNI (R25102., R38297., etc).

Sex

4,599 (51%) males and 4,385 (49%) females in initial survey.

Race/ethnicity (in initial survey):

Non-black/non-Hispanic: 4,665 (51.9%)
Black non-Hispanic: 2,335 (26%)
Hispanic or Latino: 1,901 (21.2%)
Mixed: 83 (0.9%)

Subsample design

Two subsamples comprise the NLSY97 cohort (See variable denoted as CV_SAMPLE_TYPE in Investigator.):

A cross-sectional sample of 6,748 respondents designed to be representative of people living in the United States during the initial survey round and born between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 1984. For more information on representativeness of sample, see NLSY97 Technical Sampling Report (2000).
A supplemental sample of 2,236 respondents designed to oversample Hispanic/Latino and black people living in the United States during the initial survey round and born during the same period as the cross-sectional sample.

Number of survey rounds available to the public thus far

20 rounds. (Access data at www.nlsinfo.org/investigator.) In 2021, respondents also received the NLSY97 COVID-19 Supplement, which queried them on how the pandemic affected their health and employment.

Types of information gathered in survey

Funding sources for the NLSY97

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides funding to collect data on youth labor force experiences, investments in education, training, government program participation, and many other topics influenced by labor market behavior.

A Program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics