This manual comes with a set of data concerning some economic, political, and social characteristics of the 51 cities in the Permanent Community Sample (PCS).1 In 1967, an initial survey of 12 key informants in each of the 51 cities was conducted by interviewers from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at The University of Chicago. Subsequently, additional data have been added to the original data archive through the involvement of many researchers. Several mail questionnaires have been sent to policymakers, administrators, and informants in the PCS cities. Documents published in recent years by various federal agencies (for example, the U.S. Bureau of the Census) and by various organizations concerned with municipal affairs (for example, the International City Management Association) have yielded additional and current data concerning the PCS cities.