October 6, 2026
The HRS Cross-Wave Tracker file, or more simply, the Tracker File, is created to facilitate the use of HRS data within and across waves. The file contains one record for every person who was ever eligible to be interviewed in any wave. Each record contains basic demographic information, interview status, and if, when, and how an interview was conducted in each wave. Historically, the weight variables were also included in the Tracker File. However, beginning with the 2022 Tracker (Version 2) release, all weight variables previously included in the Tracker File have been moved to a separate, Tracker Weights File. Separating the weights from the Tracker File allows HRS to provide more timely updates to both the Tracker File and Tracker Weights File while maintaining access to all weight variables.
The Tracker Weights File contains household and respondent level sample weights for each wave of the survey, associated design variables, and subsample weights. The sample weights are constructed to make the HRS weighted sample representative of all U.S. households containing at least one person in the age-eligible range (for household weights) or of non-institutionalized individuals in the U.S. population in the age-eligible range (for respondent weights). Researchers conducting analyses intended to produce estimates representative of the HRS target population must use the appropriate weight variables from the Tracker Weights File. Analyses that do not apply the appropriate weights may produce estimates that are not representative of the target population and could lead to incorrect conclusions.
The Tracker Weights File (Version 1) includes weights for previously released cases and 2022 panel cases. Weights for the 2022 new cohort (EGenX) were still under development and were not included in this version. Analysts planning to produce estimates representative of the HRS target populations using Tracker Weights File Version 1 should therefore exclude EGenX respondents, who can be identified in the Tracker file by STUDY = 71. EGenX weights will be included in a future release of the Tracker Weights File. Researchers should consult the Tracker Weights File data description for information about the available weights, their appropriate uses, and instructions for merging the weights with the analytic data.
Researchers can use the weights by merging the Tracker Weights File with the corresponding Tracker File using HHID and PN. Guidance for doing the merge is available in the data description for both the Tracker Weights File and the Tracker File.