Geospatial Resources
Feb. 1, 2022, 6:42 a.m.
Geospatial Resource Reading List:
- ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, ZCTAs (census.gov): ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are generalized areal representations of United States Postal Service (USPS) ZIP Code service areas. The USPS ZIP Codes identify the individual post office or metropolitan area delivery station associated with mailing addresses. USPS ZIP Codes are not areal features but a collection of mail delivery routes.
- Using Data from Census with ZCTA-Zip Code Summary: Data.census.gov offers a few different options for getting data on ZIP codes and ZCTAs. Here we address the differences between the ZIP code- and ZCTA-related summary levels. Both the Decennial Census and the American Community Survey publish data according to Zip Code Tabulation Areas, or ZCTAs. The ZIP Code Business Patterns survey, on the other hand, uses the traditional 5-Digit ZIP Codes that are trademarked by the U.S. Postal Service.
- About Congressional Districts (census.gov): Congressional districts are the 435 areas from which members are elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. After the apportionment of congressional seats among the states, which is based on decennial census population counts, each state with multiple seats is responsible for establishing congressional districts for the purpose of electing representatives.
- About State Legislative Districts (census.gov): State legislative districts (SLD) are areas from which members are elected to state or equivalent entity legislatures. State legislative districts embody the upper (senate—SLDU) and lower (house—SLDL) chambers of the state legislatures.
- Public Use Microdata Areas, PUMAs (census.gov): Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) are non-overlapping, statistical geographic areas that partition each state or equivalent entity into geographic areas containing no fewer than 100,000 people each.
- Urban and Rural Classification (census.gov): The Census Bureau’s urban-rural classification is a delineation of geographic areas, identifying both individual urban areas and the rural areas of the nation. The Census Bureau’s urban areas represent densely developed territory, and encompass residential, commercial, and other non-residential urban land uses.
- Census Economic Surveys by Zip Code (census.gov): We do offer a few statistical products by ZIP Code through our economic surveys.
- TIGER/Line Shapefiles (census.gov): The core TIGER/Line Files and Shapefiles do not include demographic data, but they do contain geographic entity codes (GEOIDs) that can be linked to the Census Bureau’s demographic data, available on data.census.gov.
- Cartographic Boundary Files, Shape Files (census.gov): The cartographic boundary files are simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the Census Bureau’s MAF/TIGER geographic database. These boundary files are specifically designed for small scale thematic mapping.
- Relationship Files (census.gov): These text files describe geographic relationships. There are two types of relationship files; those that show the relationship between the same type of geography over time (comparability) and those that show the relationship between two types of geography for the same time period.
- Gazetteer Files (census.gov): The U.S. Gazetteer Files provide a listing of all geographic areas for selected geographic area types. The files include geographic identifier codes, names, area measurements, and representative latitude and longitude coordinates.
- Places ZCTA Data, GIS-Friendly Format for 2021: This dataset contains model-based ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) level estimates for the PLACES 2021 release in GIS-friendly format. PLACES is the expansion of the original 500 Cities Project and covers the entire United States—50 states and the District of Columbia (DC)—at county, place, census tract, and ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) levels. It represents a first-of-its kind effort to release information uniformly on this large scale for local areas at 4 geographic levels. Estimates were provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Population Health, Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch.
- TIGER/Line Geodatabases (US Census Bureau): TIGER Geodatabases are spatial extracts from the Census Bureau’s MAF/TIGER database for use with geographic information systems (GIS) software. The geodatabases contain national coverage (for geographic boundaries or features) or state coverage (boundaries within state). These files do not include demographic data, but they contain geographic entity codes that can be linked to the Census Bureau’s demographic data, available on data.census.gov.
- Download National Datasets (US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service): Data collected and managed by Forest Service programs is available in a map service and two downloadable file formats – in a shape file and an ESRI file geodatabase. Metadata is available that describes the content, source, and currency of the data. You can filter the list by the topic categories in the menu at the left to help you find information you are interested in. You can view the feature classes in a single dataset by clicking on the name of the parent dataset at the bottom of the abstract.
- IMF eLibrary Data (International Monetary Fund):
- Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics (BOP/IIP): The Balance of Payments provides a framework that is applicable for a range of economies, from the smallest and least developed economies to the more advanced and complex economies. As a result, it is recognized that some items may not be relevant in all cases. The balance of payment is a statistical statement that summarizes transactions between residents and nonresidents during a period.
- Balance of Payments Analytic Presentation by Country:
- Balance of Payments Analytic Presentation by Indicator:
- Balance of Payments Standard Presentation by Country:
- Balance of Payments Standard Presentation by Indicator:
- International Investment Position by Country:
- International Investment Position by Indicator:
- International Investment Position Currency Composition by Country:
- Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics (BOP/IIP): The Balance of Payments provides a framework that is applicable for a range of economies, from the smallest and least developed economies to the more advanced and complex economies. As a result, it is recognized that some items may not be relevant in all cases. The balance of payment is a statistical statement that summarizes transactions between residents and nonresidents during a period.
- Federal Home Loan Bank Data Sets
- BIS Data Sets (Bank of International Settlements):
- https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-identifiers.html
- https://www2.census.gov/data/api-documentation/using-data-census-gov-how-to-match-the-geoids.pdf
- https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/tiger-line-shapefile-2019-nation-u-s-rails-national-shapefile