PolicyEngine / PolicyEngine/microcosm
Migrate primary residence value imputation to Populace
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- Dominant language
- Python
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- 0
- Forks
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- Avg merge
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Description
Context
policyengine-us-data PR PolicyEngine/policyengine-us-data#1085 added ACS-based primary_residence_value imputation from ACS VALP, fixing PolicyEngine/policyengine-us-data#1079.
That old PR is still open/draft in the superseded data repo, but the underlying question still matters for Populace: do we publish the PE-US-facing primary_residence_value input, and if so should it come from ACS VALP, SCF scf_primary_residence_value, or an explicitly documented bridge between the two?
This is related to the broader wealth/property backlog in #49, but narrower: make sure the primary-residence-value surface does not get lost inside the general asset-imputation audit.
Current Populace state
Local inspection finds scf_primary_residence_value declared in the US SCF wealth stage, but no obvious primary_residence_value output or ACS VALP source path.
Migration direction
Do not port the old policyengine-us-data staged-pipeline code directly. Translate the useful behavior into Populace source specs, export contracts, and diagnostics.
Questions to resolve:
- Whether
primary_residence_valueis a required PE-US input in the publishedpopulace-usartifact. - Whether ACS
VALPshould provide the primary source for owner-occupied housing value, with SCF used for broader wealth decomposition, diagnostics, or fallback. - Whether
scf_primary_residence_valueshould remain separate, be bridged intoprimary_residence_value, or be formula/diagnostic-only.
Acceptance criteria
- Inventory/classify
primary_residence_valueandscf_primary_residence_valueas populated, upstream-populated, formula-computed, diagnostic-only, or reviewed-excluded. - If
primary_residence_valueshould be published, add the source-stage spec and export mapping needed to populate it. - Preserve the key behavioral guard from #1085: renters and non-owner/non-head records should not receive positive owner-occupied primary residence value.
- Add fixture/unit coverage for owner vs renter handling and household-head carry behavior.
- Add a release diagnostic or benchmark comparison against the chosen source/target, such as ACS owner-occupied home value totals/distribution or SCF housing wealth diagnostics.
Part of #49 and the broader migration audit in #46.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reviewing the US SCF wealth stage declaration for scf_primary_residence_value and the prior policyengine-us-data PR #1085. Resolve the source and export contract, then add the relevant source-stage and fixture/unit coverage for owner, renter, and household-head cases. Done means the published artifact, diagnostics, and acceptance criteria consistently reflect the chosen mapping.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- data-engineering
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100