Free Census Tiger/Line 2009 ArcGIS Shapefile User Notes
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User Note 1: Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs)
Census 2000 1-Percent Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA1) Shapefile & Census 2000 5- or 10-Percent Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA5) Shapefile
In the past the Public Use Microdata Areas have been named based on the sample size (1-percent, 5-percent, or 10-percent) but they have been renamed Super Public Use Microdata Area or Public Use Microdata Area. The name Public Use Microdata Area refers to the areas formerly known as the 5-percent or 10-percent Public Use Microdata Area. The name Super Public Use Microdata Area refers to the areas formerly known as the 1-Percent Public Use Microdata Area. This change affects the naming convention of 2 shapefiles beginning with the 2009 Public TIGER/Line Shapefiles.
The Census 2000 1-Percent Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA1) Shapefile has been renamed Census 2000 Super Public Use Microdata Area (Super PUMA) Shapefile
The Census 2000 5- or 10-Percent Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA5) Shapefile has been renamed Census 2000 Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA) Shapefile
Due to the name change of the 1-Percent Public Use Microdata Area to Super PUMA, the full name of the Super PUMA does not appear in the attribute table. The NAMELSAD00 field, which normally contains the full name, contains only “Super PUMA”. The PUMA number can be obtained from the PUMA1CE00 field. To create the fully qualified name, concatenate the NAMELSAD00 field and the PUMA1CE00 field.
User Note 2: Topological Faces (2-Cells With All Geocodes) Relationship File
Topological Faces (2-Cells With All Geocodes) Relationship File is now a shapefile and has been renamed. The new name is: Topological Faces (Polygons With All Geocodes) Shapefile
In addition, the following new fields have been added:
- Region (REGION00 and REGION)
- Division (DIVISION00 and DIVISION)
- American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian FIPS Codes (AIANNHFP00 and AIANNHFP)
- Tribal Subdivision FIPS Codes (TRSUBFP00 and TRSUBFP)
- Urban Area Type (UATYP00 and UATYP)
- Total Area (ATOTAL)
- Internal Point Coordinates (INTPTLAT and INTPTLON)
User Note 3: 111th Congressional District Shapefile
The 111th Congressional District Shapefile has replaced the 110th Congressional District Shapefile. There were no boundary changes between the 110th and 111th Congresses.
User Note 4: New State-based Shapefiles
For the 2009 TIGER/Line Shapefile release 15 new State-based Shapefiles have been added, they are as follows:
- American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian Area (AIANNH) State-based Shapefile (Census 2000 and Current)
- American Indian Tribal Subdivision (AITS) State-based Shapefile (Census 2000 and Current)
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA) State-based Shapefile (Current)
- Metropolitan Statistical Area/Micropolitan Statistical Area (CBSA) State-based Shapefile (Current)
- Metropolitan Division State-based Shapefile (Current)
- Combined New England City and Town Area (CNECTA) State-based Shapefile (Current)
- New England City and Town Area (NECTA) State-based Shapefile (Current)
- New England City and Town Area (NECTA) Division State-based Shapefile (Current)
- State and Equivalent State-based Shapefile (Census 2000 and Current)
- Military Installation State-based Shapefile
- 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA5) State-based Shapefile (2002) – not clipped (can extend beyond the state boundary)
- 3-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA3) State-based Shapefile (2002) – not clipped (can extend beyond the state boundary)
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User Note 5: Finding Roads, Railroads, and other Linear Features
The All Lines Shapefile (Edges) includes all linear feature geography such as roads (street features), railroads, hydrography, and other linear features. The All Lines Shapefile is available at the county level only. There are several attribute flags within the shapefile that indicate if the feature is a road, rail, or water. Each edge has a unique TLID (TIGER/Line identifier) value.
More detailed information regarding the All Lines Shapefile can be found in the technical documentation located at URL: http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tgrshp2009/TGRSHP09.pdf
User Note 6: All Lines Shapefile Metadata - Missing Spatial Metadata Identifiers (SMIDs)
The Spatial Metadata Identifier (SMID) in the All Lines shapefile identifies the source of the coordinates for the line segment when available (not every edge will have a SMID) and provides the link between the TIGER/Line Shapefile and the source and horizontal spatial accuracy information. There are a few occurrences where the SMIDs are missing from some All Lines metadata files; hence the spatial metadata elements are also missing. The Census Bureau is aware of this problem and is in the process of fixing this issue. These corrections will be reflected in subsequent releases of the TIGER/Line Shapefiles. See the list below of areas missing SMID information in the metadata.
Jefferson, Alabama (01073): SMID 932
Shelby, Alabama (01117): SMID 932
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska (02090): SMID 3431
Faulkner, Arkansas (05045): SMID 4506
Brooks, Georgia (13027): SMID 113
Colquitt, Georgia (13071): SMID113
Mitchell, Georgia (13205): SMID 113
Thomas, Georgia (13275): SMID 113
Tift, Georgia (13277): SMID 113
Worth, Georgia (13321): SMID 113
Cook, Illinois (17031): SMID4625
Will, Illinois (17197): SMID 4625
Benton, Indiana (18007): SMID 4625
Elkhart, Indiana (18039): SMID 553
Fountain, Indiana (18045): SMID 4627
Fulton, Indiana (18049): SMID 553
Kosciusko, Indiana (18085): SMID 553
Lake, Indiana (18089): SMID 4625
Marshall, Indiana (18099): SMID 553
Montgomery, Indiana (18107): SMID 4627
Noble, Indiana (18113): SMID 553
Porter, Indiana (18127): SMID 4625
Tippecanoe, Indiana (18157): SMID 4627
Wabash, Indiana (18169): SMID 553
Warren, Indiana (18171): SMID 4627
White, Indiana (18181): SMID 4627
Whitley, Indiana (18183): SMID 553
Black Hawk, Iowa (19013): SMID 2734
Bremer, Iowa (19017): SMID 2734
Butler, Iowa (19023): SMID 2734
Chickasaw, Iowa (19037): SMID 2734
Fayette, Iowa (19065): SMID 2734
Cherokee, Kansas (20021): SMID581
Barton, Missouri (29011): SMID 581
Dade, Missouri (29057): SMID 581
Jasper, Missouri (29097): SMID 581
Lawrence, Missouri (29109): SMID 581
Newton, Missouri (29145): SMID 581
Cibola, New Mexico (35006): SMID 5346
Dona Ana, New Mexico (35013): SMID 2820
McKinley, New Mexico (35031): SMID 5346
Otero, New Mexico (35035): SMID 2820
Bertie, North Carolina (37015): SMID 4233
Archer, Texas (48009): SMID 234
Wichita, Texas (48485): SMID 120
Wichita, Texas (48485): SMID 234
Wilbarger, Texas (48487): SMID 120
Wilbarger, Texas (48487): SMID 234
User Note 7: Windows XP Users May Experience Problems Unzipping the 2009 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
Windows XP users who are downloading multiple files at the same time from the 2009 TIGER/Line Shapefiles main download page who are also using the Windows extraction utility will be unable to unzip the files. The Census Bureau is looking into possible resolutions for this problem. In the interim, users can use one of the following options to work around this issue:
- Use a different extraction utility other than the default Windows utility to unzip the files (i.e. WinZip or another similar tool).
- Use the 2009 TIGER/Line Shapefiles main download page to download the files one at a time by clicking on the individual file names.
- Use the ftp site to download the files.
User Note 8: All Lines Shapefile and Feature Names Relationship File
The feature names in the All Lines shapefile may not be consistent from one edge to the next along the extent of a road feature. The All Lines shapefile identifies the primary street name for an edge, however some primary names and alternate names have been flipped resulting in a primary feature name for one edge being identified as an alternate name on another. All feature names (featname.dbf), whether primary or alternate, can be related to the All Lines shapefile (edges.shp) by matching the TLIDs.
User Note 9: All Lines Shapefile - Permanent Face ID on the Right of the Edge (TFIDR) and Permanent Face ID on the Left of the Edge (TFIDL)
In the All Lines shapefile, the permanent face ID on the left of the edge (TFIDL) value or the permanent face ID on the right of the edge (TFIDR) value will be blank for edges on the outer boundary of a county and for edges on the outer boundary of the United States, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. The TFID (either left or right side) that does not appear in the attribute table of the county file will appear in the adjacent county's attribute table. This may impact users who are creating layers and topologies from the All Lines Shapefiles.
User Note 10: All Lines Shapefile - Hancock, IL road name directionals
The Hancock County, IL TIGER county road name directions appear to be switched for the entire county. This problem was confirmed by the BOC Headquarter Geographers, Chicago Regional Office Geographers and Hancock County, IL officials. Hancock County Road names are based on a Northing and Easting coordinate grid system. County Roads with Northing directionals should have an East-West orientation and County Roads with Easting directionals should have a North-South orientation in Hancock County, IL. The Hancock County Road name directionals are opposite in the MAFTIGER Database (MTDB). Northing directionals have an incorrect North-South orientation and the Easting County Roads have an incorrect East-West orientation in Hancock County. BOC Geography Division is aware of this problem and steps are being taken to resolve this problem.
User Note 11: Address Ranges Relationship File - Plus 4 (ZIP Plus 4 Code) Values
The ZIP plus 4 code values will not appear in the 2009 TIGER/Line Shapefiles.
User Note 12: Census 2000 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA5) Shapefile, 2002 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA5) Shapefile, Topological Faces (2-Cells with All Geocodes) Shapefile
Both the Census 2000 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA5) Shapefile and the 2002 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA5) Shapefile will not contain values for areas without an actual ZCTA code. That is, areas with large amounts of land and no ZCTA code that were previously coded with nnnXX will not be included, and neither will areas with large amounts of water and no ZCTA code that were previously coded with nnnHH. As a result, there is no longer complete coverage of the United States and Puerto Rico by 5-digit ZCTAs, rather only those areas that have an actual ZCTA code will be included in the coverage. Also, the Topological Faces (2-cells with all Geocodes) Relationship File will not contain ZCTA5CE00 or ZCTA5CE codes where code is nnnXX or nnnHH. This means that only those faces that make up a ZCTA boundary will contain ZCTA codes.
User Note 13: American Community Survey 2009 (ACS09) Elementary School District, Secondary School District, and Unified School District Shapefiles
Spatial data are incorrect for a number of elementary, secondary, and unified school districts where tiny overlaps and holes in school district coverage can be found. These problems were corrected in the Census Bureau’s source database for the 2009 American Community Survey and the Population Estimates Program. We have not identified wide-spread issues, but it is possible there are additional counties with overlaps or holes. The state and county names, state and county FIPS codes, and school districts where this occurs are below:
Overlaps:
Windham, CT (09015)
elementary school district (ELSD) 00720 and unified school district (UNSD) 05190
Middlesex, MA (25017)
ELSD 03330, secondary school district (SCSD) 03870, and UNSD 03510
Worcester, MA (25027)
ELSD 02910, SCSD 02580, and UNSD 10770
Gaps:
Lee, AL (01081)
between UNSDs 02070 and 02700
Hall, GA (13139)
between UNSDs 02610 and 02310
Burlington, NJ (34005)
between ELSD 10950, SCSD 08480 and UNSD 10710
Shelby, TN (47157)
between UNSDs 02940 and 03810
User Note 14: Topological Faces (Polygons With All Geocodes) Shapefile - AWATER and ALAND measurement field
Topological faces with the LWFLAG values: G (Glacier), I (Intermittent Water), L (Land) and S (Marsh/Swamp) are considered land areas for the calculation of the Areawater shapefile, ALAND measurement field. Only topological faces with the LWFLAG value of P (Perennial Water) are used to calculate water areas in the Areawater shapefile, AWATER measurement field. Glaciers, intermittent lakes, and marsh/swamp are considered water features although the area within them is classified as land for area measurement purposes.
User Note 15: Current American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian Shapefiles
The NAMELSAD field in the current American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian shapefiles lists the name of the area with AIANNH code 3280 as “Sac and Fox/Meskwaki Ranch Reservation”. This is incorrect; it should be “Sac and Fox/Meskwaki Settlement”.
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