U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Cartographic Products and Services Branch
201803
2017 Cartographic Boundary File, Current County and Equivalent for United States, 1:500,000
vector digital data
Cartographic Boundary Files
2017
https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2017/shp/cb_2017_us_county_500k.zip
The 2017 cartographic boundary shapefiles are simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). These boundary files are specifically designed for small-scale thematic mapping. When possible, generalization is performed with the intent to maintain the hierarchical relationships among geographies and to maintain the alignment of geographies within a file set for a given year. Geographic areas may not align with the same areas from another year. Some geographies are available as nation-based files while others are available only as state-based files.
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 equivalent entities are the organized boroughs, city and boroughs, municipalities, and for the unorganized area, census areas. The latter are delineated cooperatively for statistical purposes by the State of Alaska and the 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 entities for purposes of data presentation. The District of Columbia and Guam have no primary divisions, and each area is considered an equivalent entity for purposes of data presentation. The Census Bureau treats the following entities as equivalents of counties for purposes of data presentation: Municipios in Puerto Rico, Districts and Islands in American Samoa, Municipalities in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The entire area of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas is covered by counties or equivalent entities.
The generalized boundaries for counties and equivalent entities are based on those as of January 1, 2017, primarily as reported through the Census Bureau's Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS).
These files were specifically created to support small-scale thematic mapping. To improve the appearance of shapes at small scales, areas are represented with fewer vertices than detailed TIGER/Line Shapefiles. Cartographic boundary files take up less disk space than their ungeneralized counterparts. Cartographic boundary files take less time to render on screen than TIGER/Line Shapefiles. You can join this file with table data downloaded from American FactFinder by using the AFFGEOID field in the cartographic boundary file. If detailed boundaries are required, please use the TIGER/Line Shapefiles instead of the generalized cartographic boundary files.
201803
201803
publication date
None planned. No changes or updates will be made to this version of the cartographic boundary files. New versions of the cartographic boundary files will be produced on an annual release schedule. Types of geography released may vary from year to year.
-179.148909
179.77847
71.365162
-14.548699
ISO 19115 Topic Categories
Boundaries
None
2017
SHP
Borough
Cartographic Boundary
Census Area
City
City and Borough
County
County equivalent
District
Generalized
Independent City
Island
Municipality
Municipio
Parish
State
ISO 3166 Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions
United States
US
None
The intended display scale for this file is 1:500,000. This file should not be displayed at scales larger than 1:500,000.
These products are free to use in a product or publication, however acknowledgement must be given to the U.S. Census Bureau as the source. The boundary information is for visual display at appropriate small scales only. Cartographic boundary files should not be used for geographic analysis including area or perimeter calculation. Files should not be used for geocoding addresses. Files should not be used for determining precise geographic area relationships.
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Geographic Customer Services Branch
mailing
4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington
DC
20233-7400
United States
301.763.1128
301.763.4710
geo.geography@census.gov
Accurate against American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Publication INCITS 446-2008 (Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)) at the 100% level for the codes and base names present in the file. The remaining attribute information has been examined but has not been fully tested for accuracy.
The Census Bureau performed automated tests to ensure logical consistency of the source database. Segments making up the outer and inner boundaries of a polygon tie end-to-end to completely enclose the area. All polygons were tested for closure. The Census Bureau uses its internally developed geographic update system to enhance and modify spatial and attribute data in the Census MAF/TIGER database. Standard geographic codes, such as INCITS (formerly FIPS) codes for states, counties, municipalities, county subdivisions, places, American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian areas, and congressional districts are used when encoding spatial entities. The Census Bureau performed spatial data tests for logical consistency of the codes during the compilation of the original Census MAF/TIGER database files. Feature attribute information has been examined but has not been fully tested for consistency.
For the cartographic boundary files, the Point and Vector Object Count for the G-polygon SDTS Point and Vector Object Type reflects the number of records in the file's data table. For multi-polygon features, only one attribute record exists for each multi-polygon rather than one attribute record per individual G-polygon component of the multi-polygon feature. Cartographic Boundary File multi-polygons are an exception to the G-polygon object type classification. Therefore, when multi-polygons exist in a file, the object count will be less than the actual number of G-polygons.
The cartographic boundary files are generalized representations of extracts taken from the MAF/TIGER Database. Generalized boundary files are clipped to a simplified version of the U.S. outline. As a result, some off-shore areas may be excluded from the generalized files. Some small geographic areas, holes, or discontiguous parts of areas may not be included in generalized files if they are not visible at the target scale.
Data are not accurate. Data are generalized representations of geographic boundaries at 1:500,000.
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Geographic Customer Services Branch
Unpublished material
Census MAF/TIGER database
Geo-spatial Relational Database
201706
201705
The dates describe the effective date of 2017 cartographic boundaries.
MAF/TIGER
All spatial and feature data
Spatial data were extracted from the MAF/TIGER database and processed through a U.S. Census Bureau batch generalization system.
MAF/TIGER
201803
INCITS (formerly FIPS) codes
Vector
G-polygon
3233
0.000458
0.000458
Decimal degrees
North American Datum of 1983
Geodetic Reference System 80
6378137.000000
298.257222
cb_2017_us_county_500k.shp
Current County and Equivalent (national)
U.S. Census Bureau
STATEFP
Current state Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code
U.S. Census Bureau
National Standard Codes (ANSI INCITS 38-2009), Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) - States/State Equivalents
U.S. Census Bureau
COUNTYFP
Current county Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code
U.S. Census Bureau
National Standard Codes (ANSI INCITS 31-2009), Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) - Counties/County Equivalents
U.S. Census Bureau
COUNTYNS
Current county Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) code
U.S. Census Bureau
INCITS 446:2008 (Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)), Identifying Attributes for Named Physical and Cultural Geographic Features (Except Roads and Highways) of the United States, Its Territories, Outlying Areas, and Freely Associated Areas, and the Waters of the Same to the Limit of the Twelve-Mile Statutory Zone
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
AFFGEOID
American FactFinder summary level code + geovariant code + '00US' + GEOID
U.S. Census Bureau
American FactFinder geographic identifier
U.S. Census Bureau
GEOID
County identifier; a concatenation of current state Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code and county FIPS code
U.S. Census Bureau
The GEOID attribute is a concatenation of the state FIPS code followed by the county FIPS code. No spaces are allowed between the two codes. The state FIPS code is taken from "National Standard Codes (ANSI INCITS 38-2009), Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) - States". The county FIPS code is taken from "National Standard Codes (ANSI INCITS 31-2009), Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) - Counties/County Equivalents".
NAME
Current county name
U.S. Census Bureau
National Standard Codes (ANSI INCITS 31-2009), Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) - Counties/County Equivalents
U.S. Census Bureau
LSAD
Current legal/statistical area description code for county
U.S. Census Bureau
00
Blank
U.S. Census Bureau
03
City and Borough (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
04
Borough (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
05
Census Area (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
06
County (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
07
District (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
10
Island (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
12
Municipality (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
13
Municipio (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
15
Parish (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
25
city (suffix)
U.S. Census Bureau
ALAND
Current land area (square meters)
U.S. Census Bureau
0
9,999,999,999,999
square meters
AWATER
Current water area (square meters)
U.S. Census Bureau
0
9,999,999,999,999
square meters
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Geographic Customer Services Branch
mailing
4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington
DC
20233-7400
United States
301.763.1128
301.763.4710
geo.geography@census.gov
No warranty, expressed or implied is made with regard to the accuracy of these data, and no liability is assumed by the U.S. Government in general or the U.S. Census Bureau in specific as to the spatial or attribute accuracy of the data. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty and no responsibility is assumed by the U.S. government in the use of these files. The boundary information is for small-scale mapping purposes only; boundary depiction and designation for small-scale mapping purposes do not constitute a determination of jurisdictional authority or rights of ownership or entitlement and they are not legal land descriptions.
SHP
PK-ZIP, version 1.93A or higher
https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2017/shp/cb_2017_us_county_500k.zip
The online cartographic boundary files may be downloaded without charge.
To obtain more information about ordering Cartographic Boundary Files visit https://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger.
The cartographic boundary files contain geographic data only and do not include display mapping software or statistical data. For information on how to use cartographic boundary file data with specific software package users shall contact the company that produced the software.
201803
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Geographic Customer Services Branch
mailing
4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington
DC
20233-7400
United States
301.763.1128
301.763.4710
geo.geography@census.gov
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC-STD-001-1998
VA
counties
Census VA counties
VA Counties
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