RAND HRS Detailed Imputations File 2020 (V2)

The RAND HRS Detailed Imputations File contains the component and ownership variables for all waves that are used in the income, wealth, and medical expenditures summary measures found in the RAND HRS Longitudinal File. It is distributed as a companion file to the RAND HRS Longitudinal File, and is especially useful for those who require more detail than that found in the RAND HRS Longitudinal File.

The method used to develop these imputations is described in the RAND HRS Detailed Imputations File Codebook [PDF]. Each original income, wealth, and medical expenditure component is imputed separately, and the components are summed to create the summary measures found in the RAND HRS Longitudinal File (e.g., total household income, total wealth, total out-of-pocket medical expenditures). The original components can vary from wave to wave, and are combined when appropriate to provide consistency across waves.

The RAND HRS Detailed Imputations File 2020 (V2) includes fifteen waves of Core Interview data across seventeen survey years (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and biennially 1996–2020) as well as Exit Interview data (medical expenditures only) across fourteen survey years (1995, and biennially 1996–2020).

To access the data:

  • All RAND HRS data products are available at: https://hrsdata.isr.umich.edu/data-products/rand.
  • The RAND HRS Detailed Imputations File 2020 (V2) can be found in the "Longitudinal and Cross-Wave Data Products" section.
  • You will be able to see the data descriptions and documentation without an account, but you will need to register with HRS to access the data.
  • User note: This is a new data downloads system as of September 1st, 2020. If you have an account on the old system but have not created a new account since September 1st, 2020, you will need to create a new account. You can use the same email address as your previous account. (You will not need to create a new account if you have used this system to apply for or manage an HRS Restricted Data Agreement since November 2019.)
  • Once your account is active and you have logged in, you will be able to see the data download links for each RAND HRS data product (and other public HRS data products).

For more detailed information, please see the following documents:

RAND HRS Detailed Imputations File Codebook (PDF)

Helpful Resources

For more information, questions or comments please see our FAQ or email us at RANDHRSHelp@rand.org.

Before doing so, however, we kindly request that users first consult the documentation that accompanies our data products, as we have found that our responses often point users to specific sections of the documentation that provide further detail on the variables mentioned in the users’ queries.

In addition, we recommend that users become familiar with some of the information provided on the HRS website, such as the HRS questionnaires and codebooks for the key variables under study.

We have also found the concordance tool extremely useful to help find available variables across waves:

More resources for users