Data Catalog
Dataset: Census Demographics and Boundaries
- Description
The US Census Bureau Census Demographics and Boundaries dataset includes 286 detailed tables focusing on age, sex, households, families and housing units in the United States. The cartographic boundary files are primarily designed for small scale, thematic mapping applications at a target scale range of 1:500,000 to 1:5,000,000.
- Collection Methodology
The cartographic boundary files are a generalized extract from the US Census Bureau's TIGER database. Line simplification/smoothing was performed with a tolerance of 0.005 decimal degrees and a coordinate reduction using the Douglas-Peucker method with a tolerance of 0.0003 decimal degrees. Very small polygons were eliminated when the combination of geographic codes existed elsewhere. The geography was clipped back to the shoreline of the United States, in contrast to TIGER/Line which shows the full extent of geography out to the 3-mile limit.
- General Business Terms
This dataset is available for use as part of the core Mapfluence offer.
- Attribution Policy
Developers must include attribution link and text as follows: Map data © 2010 Urban Mapping Inc and/or other parties when developing applications.
- Attribution Text
- © 2010 Urban Mapping Inc
- Time Period
- 2000
- Geographic Scope
United States
- Lowest Geography
- Block Group
- Geometry Types
- polygon
Attribute Tables
- Census 2000 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (us_census00.zcta)
ZCTAs are generalized area representations of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) ZIP Code service areas. Simply put, each one is built by aggregating the Census 2000 blocks, whose addresses use a given ZIP Code, into a ZCTA which gets that ZIP Code assigned as its ZCTA code. They represent the majority USPS five-digit ZIP Code found in a given area. For those areas where it is difficult to determine the prevailing five-digit ZIP Code, the higher-level three-digit ZIP Code is used for the ZCTA code.
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- Census 2000 Tracts (us_census00.tract)
Census tracts are small, relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county. Census tracts are delineated for most metropolitan areas (MA's) and other densely populated counties by local census statistical areas committees following Census Bureau guidelines (more than 3,000 census tracts have been established in 221 counties outside MA's). Six States (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Rhode Island) and the District of Columbia are covered entirely by census tracts. Census tracts usually have between 2,500 and 8,000 persons and, when first delineated, are designed to be homogeneous with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions. Census tracts do not cross county boundaries. The spatial size of census tracts varies widely depending on the density of settlement. Census tract boundaries are delineated with the intention of being maintained over a long time so that statistical comparisons can be made from census to census. However, physical changes in street patterns caused by highway construction, new development, etc., may require occasional revisions; census tracts occasionally are split due to large population growth, or combined as a result of substantial population decline.
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- Core Based Statistical Areas (us_census00.cbsa)
The 2000 US Census standards provide that each CBSA must contain at least one urban area of 10,000 or more population. Each metropolitan statistical area must have at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more inhabitants. Each micropolitan statistical area must have at least one urban cluster of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000 population.
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- Census 2000 State and State Equivalent Areas (us_census00.state)
States are the primary governmental divisions of the United States. The District of Columbia is treated as a statistical equivalent of a state for decennial census purposes, as are Puerto Rico and the Island Areas: American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth if the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the United States.
Each state and statistically equivalent entity is assigned a two-digit numeric Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code in alphabetical order by state name, followed in alphabetical order by the Island Areas and Puerto Rico. Each state and statistically equivalent entity also is assigned a two-letter FIPS/U.S. Postal Service code and a two-digit census code. The census code is assigned on the basis of the geographic sequence of each state within each census division; the first digit of the code identifies the respective division, except for Puerto Rico and the Island Areas, which are not assigned to any region or division.
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- Census 2000 Block Groups (us_census00.blkgrp)
A census block group (BG) is a cluster of census blocks having the same first digit of their four-digit identifying numbers within a census tract. (See also Census Tract.) For example, block group 3 (BG 3) within a census tract includes all blocks numbered from 3000 to 3999. BGs generally contain between 600 and 3,000 people, with an optimum size of 1,500 people. Most BGs were delineated by local participants as part of the U.S. Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program. The U.S. Census Bureau delineated BGs only where a local, state, or tribal government declined to participate or where the U.S. Census Bureau could not identify a potential local or tribal participant.
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- US Census 2000 Data Tables (us_census00.stats)
US Census 2000 Data Tables
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- Census 2000 Incorporated Places/Census Designated Places (us_census00.place)
Places, for the reporting of decennial census data, include census designated places, consolidated cities, and incorporated places.
Census designated places (CDPs) are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places. CDPs are delineated to provide data for settled concentrations of population that are identifiable by name but are not legally incorporated under the laws of the state in which they are located.
Incorporated places recognized in decennial census data products are those reported to the U.S. Census Bureau as legally in existence on January 1, 2000, under the laws of their respective states, as cities, boroughs, towns, and villages, with the following exceptions: the towns in the New England states, New York, and Wisconsin, and the boroughs in New York are recognized as minor civil divisions for statistical purposes; the boroughs in Alaska are county equivalents for decennial census statistical presentation purposes.
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- Census 2000 County and County Equivalent Areas (us_census00.county)
The primary legal divisions of most states are termed "counties." In Louisiana, these divisions are known as "parishes." In Alaska, which has no counties, the statistically equivalent entities are census areas, city and boroughs (Juneau City and Borough) a municipality (Anchorage), and organized boroughs. Census are delineated cooperatively for statistical purposes by the state of Alaska and the U.S. Census Bureau. In four states (Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia), there are one or more incorporated places that are independent of any county organization and thus constitute primary divisions of their states; these incorporated places are known as "independent cities" and are treated as equivalent to counties for statistical purposes. (For some statistical purposes they may be treated as county subdivisions and places.) The District of Columbia has no primary divisions, and the entire area is considered equivalent to a county for statistical purposes. The primary legal divisions of Puerto Rico are termed "municipios" and are treated by the U.S. Census Bureau, for statistical purposes, as the equivalent of a county in the United States.
Each county and statistically equivalent entity is assigned a three-digit Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code that is unique within state or state equivalent. These codes are assigned in alphabetical order of county or county equivalent within state, except for the independent cities, which are assigned codes higher than and following the listing of counties.
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- US Census 2000 Urban Areas and Urban Clusters (us_census00.urb_a_c)
For Census 2000, the Census Bureau classifies as "urban" all territory, population, and housing units located within an urbanized area (UA) or an urban cluster (UC). It delineates UA and UC boundaries to encompass densely settled territory, which consists of:
- core census block groups or blocks that have a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile and
- surrounding census blocks that have an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile
In addition, under certain conditions, less densely settled territory may be part of each UA or UC.
The Census Bureau's classification of "rural" consists of all territory, population, and housing units located outside of UAs and UCs. The rural component contains both place and nonplace territory. Geographic entities, such as census tracts, counties, metropolitan areas, and the territory outside metropolitan areas, often are "split" between urban and rural territory, and the population and housing units they contain often are partly classified as urban and partly classified as rural.
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Geometry Tables
- Census 2000 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area Boundaries (us_census00.zcta_geom)
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- US Census 2000 Incorporated and Census-Designated Place Boundaries (us_census00.place_geom)
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- US Census 2000 County and County Equivalent Boundaries (us_census00.county_geom)
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- US Census 2000 State and State Equivalent Boundaries (us_census00.state_geom)
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- US Census 2000 Urban Areas and Urban Clusters Boundaries (us_census00.urb_a_c_geom)
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- US Census 2000 Tract Boundaries (us_census00.tract_geom)
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- Census 2000 Block Group Boundaries (us_census00.blkgrp_geom)
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- US Census Core Based Statistical Area 2003 Boundaries (us_census00.cbsa_geom)
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