New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

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Health Department:

NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey: Public Use Data

As part of the Health Department's ongoing commitment to make data from the New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) available for analysis, grant writing, policymaking and program development, we provide downloadable datasets for use by researchers, students, and the public health community.

Datasets are available on this page for each year of the YRBS. For more information on the YRBS, visit:

Prior to downloading the datasets below, please consult the Data Users Guide (PDF) and review the following information:

Due to the complex sampling design of the YRBS, data must be analyzed in a software program capable of handling complex survey data (such as SUDAAN or STATA). Survey weights must be applied to obtain representative estimates. Annotated sample code for analysis using SUDAAN is provided for each year. More information about design statements and nesting variables are located in those programs.
Specific items on the YRBS change from year to year as programs develop initiatives or new public health issues emerge. For an overview of question topics asked each year, please review the question matrix (PDF).
Although the question topic may be the same across years, question wording may vary from one year to the next. These changes may be minor or substantial, and comparing estimates across years may not always be appropriate. Therefore, please review the questionnaires and compare data across years of the YRBS with caution. Specifically, users should be aware that 2005 data on 60 minutes of physical activity are not directly comparable with data from years 2007-2011; and 2011 data on method of birth control are not directly comparable with previous years. Contact us at survey@health.nyc.gov, if you need guidance about comparing questions across years.
Analyses at the borough and District Public Health Office (DPHO) levels should be done using the entire citywide dataset in order to obtain most accurate confidence interval estimates. Users should not create stand-alone datasets by borough or DPHO. Please be aware that 2005 DPHO data are not comparable with DPHO data in 2007-2011 due to changes in geographic service area which occurred after the 2005 survey. More information about DPHO geographic boundaries (PDF).
Some behaviors and conditions may be rare or the sample sizes for some populations quite small, making YRBS estimates potentially unreliable. Organizations have various guidelines for when an estimate should be considered unreliable. Our suggested guidelines for YRBS data reliability (PDF) incorporate relative standard error (RSE), confidence interval width, and sample size.
In 2009, a special dataset was created to include information on the percent of students in the school who are eligible for free or reduced cost lunch, which can be used as an indicator of poverty. This information is only available citywide. More details on the methods used to create this indicator and how to use it (PDF).
Beginning in 2011, the method for editing responses to height and weight was revised by CDC. Previous years' data have been revised so that BMI is comparable across years.

For any published analysis using downloadable YRBS data, please reference the url of this webpage, the YRBS year(s) analyzed, and the date on which the dataset was downloaded.

2005
Questionnaire
Dataset with borough and DPHO
*Caution: DPHO area in 2005 is not comparable to DPHO area in 2007-2009*
Codebooks:
  Citywide
  Borough: Bronx|Brooklyn|Manhattan|Queens|Staten Island
  DPHO: South Bronx|North & Central Brooklyn
            East & Central Harlem
SAS Programs: Sample Code|Formats|Format statements
Survey Summary

2003
Questionnaire
Dataset with Borough
Codebook:  Citywide
SAS Programs:  Sample Code|Formats|Format statements
Survey Summary

Suggested Citation

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in collaboration with the NYC Department of Education. Youth Risk Behavior Survey [YEAR(S)]: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/episrv/episrv-youthriskbehavior.shtml; public use dataset accessed on [DATE].

Last updated March 2013