2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP)

Geographic Partnership Programs

PSAP_Specific_Request

2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP)

OMB: 0607-0795

⚠️ Notice: This form may be outdated. More recent filings and information on OMB 0607-0795 can be found here:

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PSAP MATERIALS

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Sample 2010 PSAP Confirmation Letter
Sample 2010 Mailout Cover Letter
Warning Insert
PSAP MTPS Users Guide
PSAP Guidelines
PSAP Guidelines At-A-Glance
Edge Resolution Insert

Dear

The U.S. Census Bureau recently contacted you to ask whether your organization would
like to serve as the primary participant for the 2010 Census Participant Statistical Areas
Program (2010 PSAP). This letter is to confirm that you will participate in the program
and that you will submit updates for a specific county or counties. The 2010 PSAP
allows you, following Census Bureau guidelines, to review and update the boundaries for
census tracts, census block groups, census designated places (CDPs), and, where
applicable, census county divisions (CCDs) 1 . These statistical areas are used by the
Census Bureau to report data from the 2010 Decennial Census, American Community
Survey (ACS), and, as appropriate, other censuses, and surveys.
The Census Bureau intends for the 2010 PSAP to be a process open to all interested
parties as these statistical areas are a product of local initiative and must be acceptable to
a broad range of data users. As the primary participant, you must agree to work with all
interested parties so that the resulting 2010 PSAP plan accommodates the needs and
interests of all governments and organizations in the county or counties for which you are
the primary participant for the 2010 PSAP. At a minimum, you need to solicit input from
all governments within the county or counties while also listening to the needs of nongovernmental organizations, academia, and other interested individuals. In addition, by
signing this letter, you agree to review the entire county(ies) agreed upon and listed
below, update all 2010 PSAP areas, and ensure that all updates meet 2010 PSAP criteria 2 .
Knowledge provided by our local partners helps the Census Bureau to succeed in its
mission to be the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy.
For the 2010 PSAP, the Census Bureau requires that all 2010 PSAP participants use the
2010 PSAP module of the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software (2010 PSAP MTPS
module) and Census Bureau provided shapefiles for this work. The 2010 PSAP MTPS is
a geographic information system (GIS) software specifically designed to update all
2010 PSAP areas. The 2010 PSAP MTPS module provides the specific tools needed to
ensure that all updates conform to the 2010 PSAP criteria. The 2010 PSAP MTPS
module performs calculations of both Census 2000 population and housing unit counts
for the various statistical areas in review, and runs critical verification edits that assist
1

CCDs are found only in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas,
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

A list of all 2010 PSAP primary participant responsibilities is available in the 2010 PSAP Participant Information
document located at the link listed on the next page.

participants to identify and locate entity updates that do not meet the 2010 PSAP criteria.
In addition, the 2010 PSAP MTPS module flags all 2010 PSAP updates and reports
changes in the format required by the Census Bureau’s processing systems. In order to
process the large number of submissions expected during the 2010 PSAP in an accurate
and timely manner, participants will only update shapefiles supplied by the Census
Bureau. The Census Bureau will not accept any submissions containing 2010 PSAP
updates made to a data format other than the Census Bureau supplied shapefiles and/or
originating from a GIS other than the MTPS.
Based on your telephone conversation with my staff, your organization agreed to review
and update the following 2010 PSAP entities: census tracts, census block groups, CDPs,
and (CCDs – listed here as an example only). The following is a list of counties for
which you had tentatively agreed to coordinate all delineation activities:
42021 – Cambria County, PA
42027 – Centre County, PA
42033 – Clearfield County, PA

42047 – Elk County, PA
42063 – Indiana County, PA
42065 – Jefferson County, PA

You will have 120 calendar days from the date you receive your 2010 PSAP materials
(late-October/early-November 2008) to complete your review and submit your statistical
entities plan via the internet. Also, you will have an opportunity to review any changes
the Census Bureau may make to your plans and discuss them with the geography staff at
the Philadelphia Regional Census Center (RCC). A final copy of your updated
boundaries will be made available to you in late 2009 and you will then have the
opportunity to verify the boundaries and discuss any corrections to your statistical areas
with the geography staff at the Philadelphia RCC.
To ensure that we have all of your contact and 2010 PSAP participation information
correctly recorded, please review and if necessary correct the information on the enclosed
participant information sheet. In addition, if you have identified one or more technical
contacts (i.e., the person performing the actual 2010 PSAP delineation using the MTPS),
please provide their contact information on the attached sheet. I request that you fill out
and sign the attached information sheet and send it by mail, using the enclosed selfaddressed postage paid envelope, or fax to my staff within two weeks of receipt of this
letter. This will be your official confirmation of participation in the 2010 PSAP;
therefore, I request you send back the information sheet even if all of the information is
correct. Please be sure to answer the questions about training and CD/DVD copies.
Additional information about the 2010 PSAP schedule and the materials that you will
receive, including a computer-based training for the MTPS, is available at:
.
If you have any questions regarding the 2010 PSAP, please contact the Philadelphia RCC
by telephone at 1–215–717–7727, by Fax at 1-215-717-0755, or via e-mail to
philadelphia_psap@census.gov.

We appreciate your agreement to work on the 2010 PSAP and look forward to working
with you to help make the 2010 Census a success.
Sincerely,

Regional Director
Enclosure
cc:

Participant Information Sheet
Please review and make any changes to your contact information, and provide contact information for any
known technical participants. If you will perform the actual review and update, indicate “Same” ONLY in
the Title box for Technical Participant #1. Please make copies of this sheet to list any additional technical
participants.
PSAP Primary Participant

Technical Participant #1

Technical Participant #2

Title
First Name
Last Name
Name Suffix
Position
Department Name
Address (Street)
City
State
ZIP+4
Phone
FAX
Email

Please cross-out below any PSAP statistical area (s) you do not plan to review:
•
•
•
•

Census Tracts
Census Block Groups
Census Designated Places
Census County Divisions

Please cross-out below any county for which you are not serving as the primary participant:
42021 – Cambria County, PA
42027 – Centre County, PA
42033 – Clearfield County, PA

42047 – Elk County, PA
42063 – Indiana County, PA
42065 – Jefferson County, PA

If you think there are discrepancies regarding the statistical areas, and/or the counties you agreed to cover,
contact the Philadelphia RCC staff as indicated on page two of this sheet.

Please provide answers to the following questions:
Question

PSAP Primary Participant’s Answer

Are you interested in attending 2010 PSAP specific
training provided by the Census Bureau after
November 3, 2008?

Yes

Do you have access to a DVD reader on at least one
work computer? If no, we will send you CDs.

Yes

How many copies of the 2010 PSAP MTPS (available
only on CD) and shapefile CD/DVDs would you like
to receive?

Note: The Regional Census Center (RCC) will conduct 2010 PSAP training workshops for the primary
participants and other interested members of the community. The workshop will consist of an overview of
the 2010 PSAP program and interactive use of the 2010 PSAP MTPS.
Return the information sheet by mail (using the enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope) or by fax to the
Philadelphia RCC, listed below, within two weeks of receipt. This will be your official confirmation of
participation in the 2010 PSAP. You may contact the Philadelphia RCC by telephone at 1–215–717–7727,
by Fax at 1-215-717-0755, or via e-mail to philadelphia_psap@census.gov.

2010 PSAP Primary Participant (Print name):

2010 PSAP Primary Participant Signature:

Date Signed:

Dear 2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program Official:
The enclosed CDs/DVDs provide you with the necessary software, information, and instructions for your
participation in the 2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) conducted by the U.S. Census
Bureau. We believe the knowledge provided by our local partners allows the Census Bureau to meet more
of the statistical and spatial data needs of our data users.
The PSAP data disc (CD/DVD) contains a full set of PSAP entities and other geographic entity shapefiles
for the county(ies) you agreed to delineate for the 2010 PSAP, as well as detailed guidelines and reference
information. The Readme.txt on the PSAP data CD/DVD contains the complete list of materials that you
received.
The MAF/TIGER Partnership Software (MTPS) CD provides all the tools necessary to edit all PSAP
geographic entities and submit a plan for your area(s). Additional Geographic Information System
software is not required to use the MTPS. The MTPS application includes Computer Based Training
tutorials that we strongly encourage you to review before attempting any updates within the MTPS. It is
also critical that you read all attached guidelines before beginning your review.
We require that you use the MTPS software to review the Census Bureau’s current PSAP entity shapefiles
for the county(ies) you agreed to work; delineate changes to the statistical area boundaries in the Census
provided shapefiles using the MTPS software while adhering to the 2010 PSAP criteria; and, review your
plan for compliance with 2010 PSAP criteria, prior to submission. The Census Bureau will not accept or
process any spatial updates unless they are MTPS generated return shapefiles derived from Census Bureau
shapefile extracts.
You can make as many copies as necessary of the enclosed CDs or DVDs for other parties performing
updates. You have 60 days from the receipt of your materials to review, update, and submit statistical areas
for one county. Our Regional Census Center (RCC) staff will notify you if your first submission is correct
and adheres to our update guidelines and 2010 PSAP criteria. You have 120 days from now to complete
your overall submission.
If you have any questions, please contact the RCC Geography staff for your area. RCC contact information
is provided in the Participant Information document on the PSAP website at:
www.census.gov/geo/www/psap2010/psap2010_main.html.
We look forward to working with you to ensure the successful completion of the 2010 PSAP and thank you
for your participation.
Sincerely,

Leslie S. Godwin
Acting Chief, Geography Division
Enclosures
2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program Data CD/DVD
Census Bureau MAF/TIGER Partnership Software version 4.5 CD

OMB No. 0607-0795: Approval Expires 03/31/09

WARNING
(03/13/2008)

Installing the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software (MTPS) and the accompanying data
will delete any previous MTPS data installations and any work you have already
completed, regardless of Census program (BAS, LUCA, SDRP, RDP, etc.).
To avoid this, it is recommended that the installation of these materials be done on
separate computers or the data should be installed into different folders.

To install the data into different folders:
a.) Before beginning the installation, navigate to the C:\MTPSData folder.
b.) Rename the folder using the program initials so you can easily identify it later.
(e.g. C:\MTPSData_LUCA or C:\MTPSData_SDRP)
c.) Proceed with the installation. When the installation is complete you will again have
a folder titled C:\MTPSData but it will now contain your redistricting data.
d.) If you need to switch back to one of these other programs, first rename the
C:\MTPSData folder to C:\MTPSData_RDP or another memorable name)
e.) Rename the program’s folder that you want to use to C:\MTPSData.
f.) Now, launching the software will open that dataset.

Census 2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program
MAF/TIGER Partnership Software Version 4.6 User Guide

Version 1
October 2008

Table of Contents
1
Preface......................................................................................................................... 3
2
Overview of the PSAP and PSAP MTPS Installation ................................................ 6
2.1
2.2
2.3

Introduction to the PSAP MTPS............................................................................... 10
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.4.1
3.4.2
3.4.3
3.4.4
3.5
3.5.1
3.5.2
3.5.3
3.6
3.7
3.7.1
3.7.2

Participant Statistical Areas Criteria Overview ........................................................................... 6
Installation and Starting the PSAP MTPS ................................................................................... 7
Computer Based Training (CBT) and PSAP Help ...................................................................... 9
PSAP Menu ............................................................................................................................... 10
Selecting a PSAP county ........................................................................................................... 11
PSAP Map Window .................................................................................................................. 12
Standard toolbox and Map Layers............................................................................................. 13
Standard toolbox................................................................................................................... 13
Standard Dataview Toolbox ................................................................................................. 15
Selection toolbox .................................................................................................................. 16
To Work with Map Layers ................................................................................................... 17
Tools Toolbox ........................................................................................................................... 19
To move around the map ...................................................................................................... 19
To view attributes ................................................................................................................. 20
To measure distance or size.................................................................................................. 21
Line Editing Toolbox ................................................................................................................ 22
Using additional reference information in the PSAP MTPS ..................................................... 24
Using TerraServer-USA imagery in the PSAP MTPS.......................................................... 24
Using GIS, tabular, or other imagery files in the PSAP MTPS ............................................ 25

PSAP Toolbox .......................................................................................................... 27
4.1
PSAP Toolbox: Tool Buttons.................................................................................................... 27
4.2
PSAP Toolbox: Drop Down Menus .......................................................................................... 29
4.2.1
Edit Layer ............................................................................................................................. 29
4.2.2
Update................................................................................................................................... 30
4.2.3
Target Area ........................................................................................................................... 33
4.2.4
Action ................................................................................................................................... 33

Review and Edit the Statistical Areas....................................................................... 35
5.1
5.2
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2.3
5.2.4
5.2.5
5.3
5.3.1
5.3.2
5.4

Updates and Actions Used to Edit the Statistical Areas ............................................................ 36
Steps to Execute Actions to Edit the Statistical Areas............................................................... 40
Census Tracts, Block Groups, Census Designated Places and Census County Divisions .... 40
Census Tracts, Block Groups, and Census County Divisions .............................................. 42
Census Tracts........................................................................................................................ 45
Block Groups........................................................................................................................ 47
Census Designated Places..................................................................................................... 47
Additional Tools for Reviewing and Editing............................................................................. 50
Discontiguous features.......................................................................................................... 50
Unacceptable boundary features........................................................................................... 51
Justifications.............................................................................................................................. 52

Verify and Report Changes....................................................................................... 55
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4

Verify Your PSAP Plan Work................................................................................................... 55
Report Your PSAP Changes...................................................................................................... 56
Review Your PSAP Changes Using the PSAP MTPS .............................................................. 57
Submit Your PSAP Changes ZIP File to the Census Bureau .................................................... 58

Appendix A – Regional Census Center (RCC) contact information ................................ 60
Appendix B - Important information about updating streets as part of Census 2010
Geographic Area Programs............................................................................................... 61
Appendix C – Reset a Single County ............................................................................... 63

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

OMB No. 0607-0795: Approval Expires 03/31/09

Preface
The Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) MAF/TIGER Partnership Software
(PSAP MTPS) is used to review and update census tracts (CTs), census block groups
(BGs), census designated places (CDPs) 1 , and census county 2 divisions (CCDs) 3 for
Census 2010, the American Community Survey (ACS), and other Bureau of the Census
(Census Bureau) data tabulation programs. The PSAP MTPS enables participants to
review and update the boundaries and attributes of CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs,
following Census Bureau criteria and guidelines.
It is very important that you read the 2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program Program Guidelines (PSAP Program Guidelines) and this user guide in their entirety
before attempting any updates in the PSAP MTPS. The two documents together
provide the information needed to create a successful statistical areas submission.
The PSAP Program Guidelines contain an overview of the CT, BG, CDP and CCD
concepts and criteria, as well as information about the program, including:
General information about the 2010 PSAP
Acceptable boundary features for CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs
Separate chapters for CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs, including coverage, criteria,
and review and update information
The 2010 PSAP plan submission, review, and approval process
This PSAP MTPS user guide contain information about using the PSAP MTPS to review
and update CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs, as well as how to create a final submission,
including:
Installation instructions, computer-based training (CBT), and other helpful
information
Menu and tool descriptions and usage instructions
Instructions on how to successfully review and update Census 2000 statistical
areas to create a complete 2010 statistical area submission
Instructions on how to import external GIS files, including imagery
Description of the verification and report changes functionalities
Installation instructions, computer-based training (CBT), and other helpful
information
1

The term CDP includes communidades and zonas urbanas in Puerto Rico.
For the Census Bureau’s purposes, the term “county” includes parishes in Louisiana; boroughs, city and
boroughs, municipalities, and census areas in Alaska; independent cities in Maryland, Missouri, Nevada,
and Virginia; districts and islands in American Samoa; districts in the U.S. Virgin Islands; municipalities in
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; municipios in Puerto Rico; the area constituting the
District of Columbia and Guam. This document will refer to all these entities collectively as “counties.”
3
CCDs are only present in: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia,
Hawaii , Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas,
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. CCDs will only be reviewed and updated as part of the PSAP in these
states. In Alaska, census subareas are equivalents of CCDs. For Census 2010 and beyond, Tennessee will
have MCDs (following county commissioner districts) instead of CCDs.
2

You will find the PSAP MTPS on the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software Version 4.6
Program Disc. It is designed to work with Windows based PCs 4 and will run on
Windows 98, 2000, ME, NT, XP and Vista 5 . You also will find one or more CD/DVD
data disc(s) with the PSAP data for the county or counties you agreed to cover for the
2010 PSAP in ESRI shapefile 6 format.
Deadline for submitting PSAP proposals
The deadline for submitting all statistical areas plans for CTs, BGs, CDPs, and
CCDs is 120 calendar days from the receipt of the materials provided by the Census
Bureau. To ensure that related geographic preparations for Census 2010 proceed in a
timely manner, the Census Bureau needs to receive all submissions within this time
frame.
For those PSAP primary participants covering more than one county, the Census Bureau
requests that participants review, update, and submit statistical areas for one county
within 60 calendar days so that the Census Bureau can review the submission to ensure
participants are successful in implementing the PSAP criteria and guidelines, using the
PSAP MTPS to review and edit statistical areas, and generating proposed statistical area
submissions. The Census Bureau will provide feedback to the participant on their
submission, and if necessary provide additional guidance on the criteria and guidelines
and/or PSAP MTPS usage. Should you not be able to meet this request contact your
RCC.
Contact your RCC if you review your county or counties and determine that no updates
are required for one or more of your counties, or no updates are required for one or more
of the statistical areas within the county, e.g., CT and BG edits will be submitted to the
Census Bureau but there will be no CDP changes/submission (all CDPs in the county
should remain for 2010 unchanged).
Questions?
If there are any questions during the use of the PSAP MTPS version 4.6, please contact
the Census Bureau Regional Census Center (RCC) staff for your area. Appendix A
contains RCC contact information.
Disclosures to respondents
The Geography Division manages programs to continuously update features, boundaries,
4

Windows XP is the ideal operating system for the PSAP MTPS. Additionally, the PC should have 1 GB
of RAM to run the PSAP MTPS, and the software will operate better with more RAM and hard disk
storage available on the computer.
5
If using Vista, you will need to download an executable to use the Help functionality in the PSAP MTPS.
The executable can be downloaded at:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6EBCFAD9-D3F5-4365-8070334CD175D4BB&displaylang=en
6
The use of brand names does not represent an endorsement of a company or its products by the U.S.
government. Due to the wide use of ESRI products by our partners in the GIS community, and the wide
use of the shapefile format as a medium for GIS data exchange, the Census Bureau is providing this data in
shapefile format.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

addresses, and geographic entities in the Master Address File / Topologically Integrated
Geographic Encoding and Referencing System (MAF/TIGER) database (MTdb) that is
used to support programs and to conduct the census and surveys. The PSAP program
was developed to give local governments and regional planning agencies the opportunity
to review, and update if necessary, statistical geographic areas for use in tabulating and
publishing data from the 2010 Census, the American Community Survey, and other
surveys.
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 48 hours
per respondent, including time for reviewing instructions, assembling materials,
organizing and reviewing the information, and reporting any needed changes. We
anticipate that not all 3,234 counties will be updated by participants so that the remaining
counties, estimated to be about 160 counties, will most likely be worked by Census
Bureau regional staff. For larger geographic areas or areas with many changes, however,
burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including
suggestions for reducing this burden to:
Paperwork Project
0607-0795
U.S. Census Bureau
4600 Silver Hill Road
Room 3K138
Washington, D.C. 20233
You may e-mail comments to Paperwork@census.gov. Use “Paperwork Project 06070795” as the subject.
Responses to this survey are voluntary. The authority for conducting these activities is
covered under the legal authority of Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 141 and 193.
No agency may conduct and no person may be required to respond to a collection of
information unless it displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval
number. The OMB approval number for this information collection is 0607-0795.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Overview of the PSAP and PSAP MTPS Installation

2.1 Participant Statistical Areas Criteria Overview
Before working with the PSAP MTPS review the PSAP Program Guidelines. The following is a high level summary of CT, BG, CDP and CCD
concepts and criteria:
Primary purpose

Nationwide
wall-to-wall
coverage

Geography
nests within

Boundary continuity
Census Tracts
(CTs)

Yes

County

Participant Statistical Areas

Small area
characteristics data
Yes

Meet minimum
thresholds

Census County
Divisions
(CCDs)

Census
Designated
Places (CDPs)

Set of subcounty
units that have stable
boundaries and
recognizable names
Place-level statistics
for well-known,
closely settled
localities
Mix of residential,
commercial, and
retail areas

Other criteria/ information

Optimum:
4,000
Minimum:
1,500 (1,000
within AIRs)

Merge and split CTs to meet
thresholds, not change

Maximum:
8,000

Data comparability

Block Groups
(BGs)

Census 2000
population
criteria

CCDs and
MCDs
together

County

Wherever possible conform to American Indian reservations (AIRs).
Special land use CTs may be created for large special land use areas without
housing units or population e.g., large public parks, airports). Water CTs
may be created for large water bodies.
Population thresholds:
Minimum: 600
Maximum: 3,000
Optimum: none

Smallest area for ACS1
sample data

Minimum: 600
(300 within
AIRs)

Between 1 and 9 BGs nest
within a CT

Maximum:
3,000

CT boundaries are always
BG boundaries

Wherever possible conform to American Indian reservations.
Special land use BGs will be created coextensive with special land use CTs.
Water BGs will be created coextensive with water CTs. Non-coextensive
water BGs can be created for smaller water bodies.

None

Usually represents one or
more communities, trading
centers, or major land uses

No significant changes.

Named community

A CDP cannot have zero population and zero housing units.

Not part of an incorporated
place or other CDP
State

Lower the minimum population threshold for most CTs.
Minimum: 1,200
Maximum: 8,000
Optimum 4,000
Housing unit counts may be used to meet CT thresholds.
Minimum: 480
Maximum: 3,200
Optimum: 1,600
All types of populated CTs must meet the same thresholds.

Optimum:
1,500

CCDs exist in
21 states

No, CDPs
capture
distinct
communities

Summary of changes to the criteria for Census 2010

None
Nucleus of relatively high
residential population density

Housing unit counts may be used to meet BG thresholds.
Minimum: 240
Maximum: 1,200
Optimum: none
All types of populated BGs must meet the same thresholds.

A CDP must represent a single, distinct community. A CDP that represents
multiple, distinct communities, and the hyphenated name typically assigned
to represent such CDPs, will not be permitted. Exceptions will be made for
communities whose identities have merged and in which both names
commonly are used together.

These statistical areas are for statistical uses only. All comprise relatively compact, contiguous land areas.
1
The American Community Survey (ACS) is conducted in the United States and Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico the survey is called the Puerto Rico Community Survey
(PRCS).
Additional information about the PSAP can be found in the PSAP Program Guidelines and also the on PSAP website:
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/psap2010/psap2010_main.html

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

2.2 Installation and Starting the PSAP MTPS
Note: Installing the PSAP MTPS and PSAP MTPS data may take several minutes. For
some very large counties the PSAP MTPS data installation may take up to one hour.
To install the PSAP MTPS, do the following:
1. Start Windows.
2. Insert the Program CD in your CD-ROM drive. Note: If the “Installation Wizard”
automatically starts up, proceed to step 6.
3. Choose the “Run” command from the “Start” menu.
4. Type the location of the CD-ROM drive plus the word “setup” (for example, type
d:\setup), or use the “Browse” button to locate the SETUP.EXE file.
5. Click “OK” and the installation program will appear on your screen.
6. On the “Welcome” screen, click “Next”.
7. For “Installation Type”, choose “Single User” and click “Next”.
8. The installation process asks questions and makes suggestions on how to best set up
the PSAP MTPS software. It is best to accept the default settings (including the
installation of the PSAP MTPS application and data on the C: drive). If there are
files in the directory, the setup program will ask if you want to remove these files. If
you click “Yes”, the files are removed; if you click “No”, you can choose another
directory. Note: Installing the PSAP MTPS data will delete any previous MTPS data
installations and any work you have already completed in the PSAP MTPS or for
other Census programs (BAS, LUCA, SDRP, RDP, etc.). 7
Continue to follow the tutorial steps in the installation process.
9. Once the program has been installed, the setup indicates that “Setup Needs the
Census Data” and prompts you to insert the Census PSAP Data CD/DVD. Remove

To avoid overwriting data, install the PSAP MTPS on separate computers or in different folders. To
install the data into different folders:
1. Before beginning the installation, navigate to the C:\MTPSData folder.
2. Rename the folder using the program initials so you can easily identify it later. (e.g.
C:\MTPSData_LUCA or C:\MTPSData_SDRP)
3. Proceed with the installation. When the installation is complete you will again have a folder titled
C:\MTPSData but it will now contain your redistricting data.
4. If you need to switch back to one of these other programs, first rename the C:\MTPSData folder to
C:\MTPSData_PSAP or another memorable name)
5. Rename the program’s folder that you want to use to C:\MTPSData.
6. Now, launching the software will open that dataset.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

the program CD and insert the PSAP Data CD/DVD. Browse to the CD/DVD’s
location and click “OK”.
10. After copying the data files, the setup is finished, and it prompts you to run the PSAP
MTPS by selecting it from the “Start” Menu. Click “Finish”.
11. Click the Windows taskbar “Start” button, and from the Programs menu choose the
“MAF-TIGER Partnership Software” and then “MAF-TIGER Partnership Software
4.6”.
12. The prompt “Please Log In” with a “User Name” appears. Enter “PSAP” as the
“User Name” (case sensitive) and click “OK”.
13. Please verify and correct your “Participant Information”.

Note: The participant information is provided for the “official” PSAP participant,
and therefore not may not be the contact information for the individual using the
MTPS to review and edit statistical areas. Please update the contact information for
the individual whose contact information is originally provided (i.e., if your contact
information is not present in this “Participant Information” section do not update the
Participant Information with your contact information in this section).
14. The prompt for two “Startup Choices” gives the choice of:

“Run the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software Computer Based Training”
“Go directly to the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software program”

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

If this is your first time using the PSAP MTPS, run the Computer Based Training.
Additionally, before you begin to review and update your statistical areas for final
submission, the Census Bureau strongly recommends that you become familiar with the
work flow and functionalities of the PSAP MTPS by making edits to the CT, BG, CDP,
and CCD layer. Once comfortable with the PSAP MTPS, reinstall the original data for
the county (Refer to section 3.1 for information on the undo all changes tool) so that you
can begin working on the final submission.

2.3 Computer Based Training (CBT) and PSAP Help
Computer Based Training
The Computer Based Training provides an overview of the PSAP MTPS functionality
and usage. Even an experienced Geographic Information System (GIS) user should
review the CBT to provide you with time-saving information.
After completing the CBT, return to the PSAP MTPS software and go to “PSAP: Pick a
PSAP County” to begin working on a county.
Help
For further information about the PSAP MTPS review the help section for the PSAP
program by choosing “Help: Contents”. For general MTPS guidance select the “Help for
MTPS Basic Skills”. For general PSAP MTPS guidance, select the “Help for the MTPS
Census Programs” link, and then the “PSAP” link. For help with specific items, either
look for the specific item within the index list or search for items by entering the term in
the search box. Note: While using the PSAP MTPS you can learn more about a
command, dialog box, or toolbox, by opening or highlighting the item and pressing F1 to
get the appropriate topic in the help. To review the function of an icon on any toolbox,
hover the cursor over the icon and a text box will appear describing the function.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Introduction to the PSAP MTPS

3.1 PSAP Menu
The PSAP menu allows you to select and open the county you would like to work on,
open the various toolboxes available for use in the statistical area review and update, and
execute the verify tool and report changes tool.

PSAP Menu option

Does this…

PSAP Toolbox

Opens the PSAP Toolbox that allows you to review and edit the
boundaries and attributes of CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs. Refer to “4.
PSAP Toolbox” for additional information. The PSAP Toolbox is
open by default when a county is opened.
Opens the Line Editing Toolbox that allows you to add, remove, and
edit line features and their attributes. You can use this tool to add valid
features to use as boundaries for your CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs (to
split a face), or to change the attributes of a line feature. This tool
edits the “All lines” layer. Refer to “3.6. Line Editing Toolbox” for
additional information.
Not applicable to the PSAP.
Not applicable to the PSAP.
Opens the Measuring Toolbox that allows you to measure distances in
feet (default). This can be used to evaluate potential special land use
CT and water CTs.
Opens the Pick a County dialog box that allows you to select the
county in which you will review and edit the statistical area plans.
Opens the county selected in the Pick a County dialog box.
Opens the Undo All Changes Tool that allows you to undo all changes
for the CT, BG, CDP or CCD plans in the county, or all changes [CT,
BG, CDP, CCD, and all lines] to all plans within the county. Note: If
you select the option to undo changes to the CT layer, the action will
also undo all BG changes. Note: You can undo individual edits by
selecting Edit: Undo [previous action] provided you are in the same
editing session and did not Close the county
Closes the county selected in the Pick a County dialog box (i.e., the
county you are working on).
Opens the Verify tool that allows you to verify that all criteria/
requirements have been met in your completed plan. The software
requires verification for each statistical area type (CTs, BGs, CDPs, and

Line Editing Toolbox

Area Editing Toolbox
Point Editing Toolbox
Measuring Toolbox

Pick a County
Open
Undo All Changes

Close
Verify

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

CCDs) before it will report changes for a county. Refer to “6.1. Verify
Your PSAP Plan Work ” for additional information.
Report Changes
Opens the Report Changes tool that reports all changes for the edited
statistical area plans for the county (i.e., updated plans for CTs, BGs,
CDPs, CCDs, and all lines). The tool will only run after the verify tool
has been run for each of the statistical area types. The tool assembles
all the reported changes into a ZIP archive that can be opened and
reviewed within the PSAP MTPS and submitted to the Census Bureau.
Refer to “6.2. Report Your PSAP Changes” for additional information.
Update User Information… Opens the User Information window in which you can review and
update your contact information.

3.2 Selecting a PSAP county
Before you can open the PSAP map window you must select a county to work on. The
PSAP MTPS will then import the data for that county. The PSAP MTPS is designed to
work on one county at a time. Each time you open the PSAP map window, it will display
the county and the type of statistical area (CT, BG, CDP or CCD) you were editing in the
previous session. To work with a different county you must close the PSAP Map
window (“PSAP: Close”), pick another county (“PSAP: Pick a County”), and open the
PSAP map window again (“PSAP: Open”).
1. Go to “PSAP: Pick a County”. PSAP MTPS displays the MTPS Counties dialog box.
The county or counties you agreed to cover for the 2010 PSAP will be displayed in
the MTPS Counties dialog box. If the county or counties you agreed to cover is/are
not displayed in the box, contact your RCC.

2. Highlight a county in the scroll list.
3. Click “OK”. If you are opening a county for the first time, the PSAP MTPS displays
a message recommending that you disable any anti-virus software to speed the process.
When you click “OK”, the PSAP MTPS imports the county, makes it the current county,
and displays a message indicating success. Note: When you pick a county for the first
time the file indexing may take several minutes.
Note: There is no specific save functionality in the PSAP MTPS; your statistical areas
plans continuously saves while you are working.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

3.3

PSAP Map Window
Once you’ve selected a county to work on the PSAP map window can be opened.
1. Go to “PSAP: Open” to display the PSAP Map window, toolboxes, and open to the
CT plan for that county (or the edit layer most recently worked on).
Note: Opening the county for the first time may take several minutes.
2. A reminder that CTs must nest within and cover the entire area of the county pops up.
Press “OK”.

3. PSAP MTPS opens the map window, displaying the selected county, the Standard
Toolbox (described in “3.4.1 Standard Toolbox”), the Tools toolbox (described in
“3.5 Tools Toolbox”), the PSAP toolbox (described in detail in “4. PSAP Toolbox”),
and the map legend.

4. When you have finished working with the county and the PSAP Map window is
open, go to “PSAP: Close”. PSAP MTPS closes the PSAP Map window and any
toolboxes that are open.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

3.4 Standard toolbox and Map Layers
The standard toolbox is docked by default below the menu bar and contains many of the
functionalities found within the menus.

3.4.1 Standard toolbox
Open
File

Properties

Working
Layer

New
Dataview

Map
Layers

Show or Hide Layer
the Legend Style

Add a
Manage
Bookmark Bookmarks

Main
Toolbox

Selection
Toolbox

Automatic Set the Map
Labels
Scale

Note: The layer displayed in the “Working Layer” is the featured layer that will be
displayed in the dataview if the dataview is opened, in the attribute table if a feature is
selected using the “Info” tool in the Tools toolbox, etc.
To do this…

Do this…

Open a file

Go to File: Open or click the Open File icon
on the
Standard toolbar. Refer to “3.6.2 Using GIS, tabular, or
other imagery files in the MTPS” for additional information.

Print a map

Go to File: Print or click the Print icon
Standard toolbar.

To view map properties

Go to File: Properties or click the Properties icon
the standard toolbar.
Select the Working Layer drop down menu

To change the working layer

on the
on

and navigate to and select the name
of the layer that you would like to select as the working
layer.
To open the dataview for the working
layer

To edit the map layers

to open the dataview
Click the New Dataview icon
(or data table) for the layer displayed in the Working Layer
drop down menu. Note: When a dataview is open the
Standard toolbox contains dataview-specific tools. Refer to
“3.4.2 Standard Dataview Toolbox” for additional
information.
on the
Go to Map: Layers, click the Map Layers icon
Standard toolbox, or click the right mouse button on the
map window and choose Layers to display the Layers
dialog box. Refer to “3.4.2 To Work with Map Layers” for
additional information.

To show or hide the legend

to show the
Click the To Show or Hide Legend icon
legend (if hidden) or hide the legend (if displayed).

To edit the layer style

to edit the style of the layer
Click the Layer Style icon
displayed in the Working Layer drop down menu.

To display or edit labels

to display or edit
Click the Automatic Labels icon
labels for the layer displayed in the Working Layer drop
down menu.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

To edit the map scale

Click the Map Scale icon
method.

To add a bookmark

Click on the Add a Bookmark icon
extent.

To manage bookmarks

Click on the Manage Bookmarks icon
a bookmark.

To show/hide the tools toolbox

to display the Tools
Click on the Main Toolbox icon
toolbox (if hidden) or hide the Tools toolbox (if displayed).

To show/hide the selection toolbox

to display the
Click on the Selection Toolbox icon
Selection toolbox (if hidden) or hide the Selection toolbox
(if displayed) for the layer displayed in the “Working
Layer” drop down menu. Note: The selection toolbox
contains specific selection and selection review tools. Refer
to “3.4.3 Selection Toolbox” for more information about the
selection toolbox.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

to edit the map scaling
to save a map
to edit or apply

3.4.2 Standard Dataview Toolbox
When a Dataview is open the Standard toolbox with dataview-specific tools is available.
Properties

Working Layer

Print
Open File
New Dataview

Increase Width
Find Dataview Lock Column
Sort
Sort
Hide
Fields Columns Settings Increasing Decreasing Columns

Reduce Width

To do this…

Do this…

Open a file

Go to File: Open or click the Open File icon
on the
Standard toolbar. Refer to 3.7.2 “Using GIS, tabular or
other imagery files in the MTPS” for additional information.

Print a map

Go to File: Print or click the Print icon
“Standard toolbar”.

View map properties

Go to File: Properties or click the Properties icon
the standard toolbar.
Select All Records or a specific selection set in the
Records to Display drop down menu

View all or a selection set of the
dataview records

on the
on

.
Open the dataview for a different layer Click the Open Dataview icon
and select the layer
with the dataview you would like to display
Find a specific record in the dataview
Change the display of the dataview
fields

Lock a field in the dataview

Click the Find icon
to search for a specific record in the
open dataview.
Select Dataview: Fields or click the Dataview Fields icon
to display the Dataview Fields dialog box, which
allows you to edit the fields and the displayed order of the
fields in the dataview.
Select a cell or column heading of the field(s) you want to
lock, and select Dataview: Lock Columns or click Lock

.
Columns icon
Change column settings in the dataview Go to Dataview: Column Settings or click the Column
to edit the column formats and settings.
Settings icon
To sort the fields in the dataview
Select a cell or column heading of the field(s) you want to
sort and click on the Sort Increasing icon

or Sort

Hide columns in the dataview

.
Decreasing icon
Select a cell or column heading of the field(s) you want to

Change the column width in the
dataview

.
hide and click on the Hide Columns icon
Select a cell or column heading of the field(s) you want to
increase or decrease the column width size, and click the
Reduce Width icon

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

or the Increase Width icon

3.4.3 Selection toolbox
The PSAP MTPS provides tools to select features by map location or condition, and
review the selected features. The selected features are highlighted on the map.
Open the selection toolbox by going to “Tools: Selection”, or clicking the “Selection
on the standard toolbox.
toolbox” icon
Create
Select by Select by Clear
Selection
Shape Condition Selection New Selection Settings Zoom to
Select by Circle
Selection
Show One Set/
All Features

Select by Pointing

Current Selection
Use Current
Map Scale

Beginning
Previous
Record

Next
Record

Last
Record

Zoom to
Record

Note: Select the layer whose features you are interested in viewing and editing in the
“Working Layer” drop down menu in the “Standard Toolbox” before using any of the
“Selection Toolbox” tools.
To do this…

Do this…

Select one or more features directly
from the map

Use one of the following three tools to select features
from the map:
and click on
(1) Click the “Select by Pointing” icon
a single feature or drag a rectangle to select all features
inside the rectangle,

and drag a
(2) Click the “Select by Circle” icon
circle to select all features inside the circle or click at the
center of the circle and type the radius in the Enter
Selection Radius dialog box
and draw and
(3) Click the “Select by Shape” icon
area to select all features located inside the area by
clicking on each corner of the area and double-click to
close the shape.
Note: By default, when features are selected by drawing a
rectangle, circle, or shape, the PSAP MTPS finds the map
features that are completely contained within the defined
shape. Note: To remove features from the selection set
hold the Ctrl key while using the selection tools.
Select one or more features by condition Go to “Selection: Select by Condition”, or click the
to display the Select by
“Select by Condition” icon
Condition dialog box. In the Select by Condition dialog
box, enter a condition or use the condition builder to
create a condition, choose or enter a new selection set
name, and choose how to store the results.
Clear a current selection

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Click the “Clear Selection” icon
selection set.

to clear the

Create a new selection

Go to Selection: Settings: Add Set button, or click the

To change the settings of the selection

to create a new set, then
Create New Selection icon
either select one or more features directly from the map or
select one or more features by condition to add to the new
set.
Go to Selection: Settings, or click the Selection Settings
to add or drop a selection set, to reorder
icon
(promote) a selection set, or to change the selection set
status, style, labels, or autoscale settings.

Zoom to selection
Show one set or all features

To change the current selection

to zoom to all of
Click the Zoom to Selection icon
the features within the selection set.
if you
Click the Show One Set/All Features icon
want to display the set (if all features are displayed) or
show all features (if the selection set is displayed)
Click the Current Selection drop down menu

to change the
current selection.
to go to the first record of
To navigate through the selected features Click the Beginning icon
the selection set, the Previous Record icon
to go to
the previous record in the selection set , the Next Record
to the next record in the selection set, and the
icon
Last Record icon
to the last record of the selection
set.
To zoom to a feature

to zoom to the
Click the Zoom to Record icon
current feature by entering the PSAP MTPS assigned ID
or number of the item within the selection set.

To lock the map scale for viewing

to lock the
Click the Use Current Map Scale icon
current map scale for viewing the selected features

3.4.4 To Work with Map Layers
Open the layers dialog box by going to “Map: Layers” or selecting the “Map Layers”
icon
in the “Standard” toolbar.
Use the Layers dialog box to view and edit the map layers and settings:

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Note: The content within the layers dialog box above is an example of the layers that
may be present in the layers dialog box.
To do this…

Do this…

Open the Layers dialog box

Go to Map: Layers or click the Map Layers icon
on
the “Standard toolbox”, or click the right mouse button on
the map window and choose Layers to open the Layers
dialog box.
Highlight the layer in the scroll list, which shows the layers
in the order they will be drawn, from first to last, a sample
of the style, and the status (Hidden means the layer will not
be drawn, Autoscale means the layer will be drawn between
certain scales, and blank means the layer will be drawn at
all scales). You can also hold the Shift key and click on
another layer to highlight a range of layers, or hold the Ctrl
key and click on a layer to toggle the highlight on or off.
Click Hide Layer. The button will change to Show so that
you can reshow the layer.
Click Add Layer to display the File Open dialog box. You
can choose the type of file and one or more files to add.
Click Cancel to close the dialog box without adding any
layers. Note: If you add additional files to your PSAP
MTPS project, you must not move or delete those files on
your PC until you “drop” them from the PSAP MTPS
project. Failure to drop the files from the project before
moving or deleting them will render the project unable to
open.
Click Drop Layer to display a Confirm dialog box. Click
Cancel to close the dialog box without dropping the layer.
Note: Only drop layers that you have imported from your own

Choose a layer

Hide/Show a layer
Add a layer

Drop a layer

digital files. If you do not want to see a layer that is included in
the PSAP MTPS, you should “Hide” the layer.

Change the order of the layers
Change the style settings for a layer

Change the label settings for a layer

Change the autoscale settings for a
layer

Close the Layers dialog box

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Click Move Up or Move Down to move the highlighted
layer up or down.
Click Style to display the Style dialog box, which is
different for point, line, and area layers. Edit the style
settings and click Apply if you want to make the changes to
style settings. Click Cancel to close the dialog box without
changing the settings.
Click Labels to display the Automatic Labels dialog box.
Edit the label settings and click Apply if you want to make
the changes to label settings. Click Cancel to close the
dialog box without changing the settings.
Click Autoscale to display the Autoscale dialog box. The
largest drop down menu, if not blank, shows the “largest”
scale at which the layer is displayed, as you zoom in. The
“smallest” drop down menu, if not blank, shows the
smallest scale at which the layer is displayed, as you zoom
out. Edit the autoscale settings and click Apply if you want
to make changes to the autoscale settings. Click Cancel to
close the dialog box without changing the settings.
Click Close.

3.5 Tools Toolbox
The “Tools” toolbox provides tools to move around the map, display feature attributes,
and measure distances and areas. The Tools toolbox is on by default when the PSAP
MTPS is first launched.

3.5.1 To move around the map

Zoom in
Zoom out

Pan

Previous
Scale

To do this…

Initial Scale

Do this…

Zoom in to a point or a rectangle

Click the Zoom in icon
and click on a point or drag a
rectangle to make the scale larger and change the center of
the map.
and click on a point or drag a
Zoom out from a point or a rectangle Click the Zoom out icon
rectangle to make the scale smaller and change the center of
the map
and drag the map to change the
Move the map in any direction
Click the Pan icon
center of the map.
Move the map right, left, up, or down Go to Map: Pan and choose one of the commands: Pan
Right, Pan Left, Pan Up, or Pan Down.
Return to the previous scale and center Go to Map: Previous scale or click the Previous scale icon
to return to the previous scale
Return to the original scale and center Go to Map: Initial Scale or click the Initial scale icon
to return to the original scale
Move the map in a cardinal direction Go to Map: Pan: Pan Map Toolbox to display the Pan
Map toolbox, then click the appropriate button to move the
map half the width or height of the map in that direction.

Also use the “Pan Map” toolbox (go to “Map: Pan: Pan Map Toolbox”) to move around
the map:

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

3.5.2 To view attributes
Note: Assure that the “Working Layer” in the standard toolbox is set to the layer for
which you are interested in getting information.

Info

Multi-layer
Multi-layer
information area information

To do this…

Do this…

Change the working layer

Choose the layer you for which you want to view information
from the drop down menu on the Standard toolbar.

from the “Tools Toolbox” to activate the
Get information on a map feature Click the Info icon
Info tool and click on a feature on the map to mark the feature
with an “i” and display the data for the feature in the Info
window. Note: The PSAP Toolbox also has a tool button with
the same symbol, but it is the “Edit attribute information" tool
that allows you to view and edit the attribute information for the
statistical area in the PSAP tool box “Edit Layer” window.
or the Multi-layer
Get information on several features Click the Multi-layer information icon
area information icon
to activate the Info tool and click on
a point or drag a circle around the map features to mark the
features with an “i” and display the data for the features in the
Info window.
Close the Info window
Click the Close box in the upper right corner or choose Close
from the menu in the upper left corner.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

3.5.3 To measure distance or size

Measure
distance

Measure
size

To do this…

Do this…

Measure distance

Click on the Measure distance icon
to activate the
measure distance tool. Click the map on the starting point, and
the elapsed length of the line (from the starting point to the
current cursor location) is displayed in the status bar at the
bottom of the screen. Note: If the line is not straight, click on
one or more points to shape the line. Double click on the last
point to end the line to display the total length of the line.

Measure size of an area

to activate the measure
Click on the Measure area icon
area tool. Click the map on the starting point, and click on two
or more points to bound the area. Double click on the last point
to end the area by connecting the first and last point
automatically, to display the total size of the area and its
perimeter.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

3.6 Line Editing Toolbox
When working on your statistical area plans it will be necessary to digitize lines into the
PSAP MTPS for use as CT, BG, CDP, and CCD boundaries. Additionally, you may need
to edit the attributes of line features to use as boundaries (for example, if the line feature
is classified incorrectly as a not acceptable feature).
Edit only those line features that will be used as statistical area boundaries. Refer to
the PSAP Program Guidelines and Appendix B “Important information about updating
streets as part of Census 2010 Geographic Area Programs” for information about
acceptable line feature additions and edits.
Should a submission contain many non-boundary line additions, the submission will be
returned to the participant to revise and resubmit without the non-boundary line
additions.
Note: If an existing line is within 30 feet of the line that you are adding and the existing
line parallels your line, use the existing line rather than creating a new line.
Use the Line Editing toolbox to add or edit line features. Open the line editing toolbox
by going to “PSAP: Line Editing Toolbox”.
Display alternate Display alternate
addresses
names
Edit line attributes
Show right/left direction arrows
Cancel edits
Add line

Save edits

Delete line
Split line Copy and delete line Replace copied line

Note: Before adding any new line features, go to “Edit: Preferences” and change the
default snap tolerance from 50 to 10 feet. This will prevent undesirable line snaps and
shifting.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

To do this…

Do this…

Add a line feature

Click the Add line icon
to add a line feature by clicking at
the beginning of the new line and double clicking to end the line.
If the line curves add shape points by clicking along the line
while adding the line. Save edits by clicking the Save edits icon
. Note: When a line is added the MTFCC (feature class
code) must be documented. As necessary, other feature attribute
information may also be documented.

Delete a line feature

Split a line feature
Copy and delete line feature

to delete a line feature by
Click the Delete line icon
clicking on the line you want to delete. Save edits by clicking
the Save edits icon
. Note: When a line feature is deleted it
is not removed from the map window, but the symbology of the
line is changed to a red dash.
Not applicable for PSAP.
as the first step of
Click the Copy and delete line icon
copying, deleting, and replacing a line feature, by clicking on the
line to be copied and deleted and then selecting the Replace
. Note: This step in copying, deleting, and
copied line icon
replacing a line feature copies the IDs and attributes of the
existing line feature and then deletes the feature. The line
feature added by using the Replace copied line feature icon

will receive the IDs and attributes of this line feature. Note:
To reshape a line feature that is a PSAP boundary, use the Copy
and delete line and Replace copied line tools. Refer to
Appendix B for additional information.
Replace copied line feature

as the second step of
Click the Replace copied line icon
copying, deleting and replacing a line feature, by clicking at the
beginning of the new line (the line replacing the line to be
deleted) and double clicking to end the line. If the line curves
add shape points by clicking along the line while adding the line.
Save edits by clicking the Save edits icon
. Note: This step
in copying, deleting, and replacing a line feature creates the new
line feature and assigns the IDs and attributes of the line selected

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

by the Copy and delete line feature icon
. Note: To
reshape a line feature that is a PSAP boundary, use the Copy
and delete line and Replace copied line tools. Refer to
Appendix B for additional information.
Update the line attributes

to update line attributes,
Click the Edit line attributes icon
including the feature code and feature name, by clicking on the
line and editing the feature attribute information. Save edits by
clicking the Save edits icon

Display alternate street names

3.7

Click the Display alternate names icon
feature names by clicking on the feature.

Not applicable to the PSAP

“Display alternate addresses”

Not applicable to the PSAP

“Show right/left direction arrows”

to view alternate

Cancel the current edit

Click the Cancel edits icon
to cancel all edits made
since edits were last saved. Note: When edits have not been
made successfully the Save Edits and Cancel Edits icons are
gray/not available to be selected.

Execute and save the current edit

Click the Save edits icon
to save all edits made since
the edits were last saved. Note: When edits have not been
made successfully the Save Edits and Cancel Edits icons are
gray/not available to be selected.

Using additional reference information in the PSAP MTPS
The PSAP MTPS accepts a wide-range of GIS files, imagery, and other types of digital
information for use as a backdrop reference. Using reference information in the PSAP
MTPS will enable participants to review and update statistical areas more accurately and
quickly.

3.7.1 Using TerraServer-USA imagery in the PSAP MTPS
It is possible to bring in imagery and topographic mapss the PSAP MTPS from the
TerraServer USA Imagery internet service. These images can function as layers in your
maps in almost the same way as any other type of layer, and can be useful for digitizing
new lines or for adjudicating boundary placement. There are two technical prerequisites
to using this tool; there must be an active broadband internet connection, the Microsoft
.NET framework must be installed. The Microsoft .NET framework can be downloaded
from Microsoft at:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en . Moreover, if your system operates behind a
firewall, please ensure that you are outside the firewall before using this feature.
Follow these steps use a Terra-Server-USA map image:
1. Zoom to the area for which you want the map image

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

2. Select “Tools: Imagery: TerraServer-USA toolbox” to open the TerraServerUSA toolbox.
Drop
Image
Save
Image Information Image

Get image

3. Choose one of the following options from the “Methods” drop down menu:
Aerial image – nationwide black and white digital orthophoto quadrangles
(DOQs)
Topographic map – nationwide digitally scanned images of USGS
topographic maps, also called digital raster graphics (DRGs)
Urban color maps – color DOQs for the 133 most populated metropolitan
areas of the United States. Refer to the USGS Fact Sheet at:
gisdata.usgs.net/IADD/factsheets/fact.html.
4. Choose the image resolution from the “Resolution” drop down menu. If you
choose Autoscale, the PSAP MTPS will choose an appropriate resolution.
to get the image. The PSAP MTPS requests,
5. Click on the “Get image” icon
receives, and displays the image in the map window.
6. Click on the “Save image” icon
to display the Save Image As dialog box.
Choose a folder, choose a file type, type a name, and click Save to save the image
in JPEG format.
Click on the “Drop image” icon

to drop the image layer from the map. The metadata

for the image can be displayed by clicking on the “Image information” icon
“OK” when you’re done reading the metadata.

. Click

When finished, click on the close button in the top right-hand corner of the toolbox to
close the toolbox.
More detailed information about using imagery can be found in the Help.

3.7.2 Using GIS, tabular, or other imagery files in the PSAP MTPS
The Census Bureau encourages the use of external reference sources such as GIS files,
georeferenced imagery, and other types of reference sources when reviewing and
updating your statistical areas. You can import external reference sources into the PSAP
MTPS as additional layers in your map window using either the “Add Layer” option in
the “Map Layers” toolbox or clicking on “File” from the main menu bar and selecting
“Open”. Note: The “Add Layer” option is limited to only a few mainstream GIS data

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

formats (i.e., ESRI shapefiles and geodatabases, MapInfo Tables, and others). The
“File”/”Open” option allows users to import many other GIS data formats, so check this
option if you are unable to locate your data format in the “Add Layer” menu. In
addition, to utilize the PSAP MTPS “change projection and transformation on-the-fly”
feature, the PSAP MTPS requires that a defined projection file (e.g., .PRJ) accompany all
reference layers to ensure correct importation into the PSAP MTPS. The PSAP MTPS
still offers its users to manually enter coordinate/projection information in both
importation methods if a defined projection file is unavailable, but you must know the
coordinate, projection, datum, units of measurement, and other information of your
file(s). Note: If you add additional files to your PSAP MTPS project, you must not
move or delete those files on your PC until you “drop” them from the PSAP MTPS
project. Failure to drop the files from the project before moving or deleting them will
render the project unable to open.
Use these steps to import an external reference source using the “Add Layer” option:
1. Open the Layers dialog box by selecting “Map: Layers” or clicking the “Map
layers” icon
in the Standard toolbox.
2. Click the “Add Layer” button.
3. In the “File Open” window, set the “Files of type” drop down menu to the file
type you are adding to the project.
4. After setting the file type navigate to and select the file you want to add. Click
the “Open” button.
5. A pop-up box will appear listing information about the file you are adding.
Click the “Coordinates” button. This lists the coordinates, as interpreted by the
software, from any associated projection files. If the file you are trying to add
does not have the associated projection file, then this is where you would
manually enter the projection information. Note: Each projection type has its own
specific characteristics. In general, the information you need is the projection
name, datum, units (if applicable), and zone (if applicable). It is also worth noting
that the system of latitude and longitude is often referred to as un-projected. Help
with projections is available in the Help section under Basic Skills: Additional
Skills: Importing and Exporting Geographic Files: Using Data in Other
Coordinate Systems).
6. After verifying or entering the projection information, click the “OK” button,
and continue clicking “OK” buttons until you are back at the Layers dialog box.
Your file should now be listed in the “Layers” window.
Note: If you are using a GIS file, you can change the symbology for your layer
here by clicking on “Style” button (refer back to “3.4.4 To Work with Map
Layers” section).
7. Click the “Apply” button, the “OK” button, and the “Close” button to have
your newly added file drawn in your map.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

PSAP Toolbox

4.1 PSAP Toolbox: Tool Buttons
Select by pointing from Select shape from the Zoom to previous Zoom to next
the face area layer
face area layer
discontiguous area discontiguous area
Cancel edits
Target area pointer

Save edits

Zoom to target area
Show entire map Edit attribute data

Show boundary eligibility theme/
Hide boundary eligibility theme

Use the following buttons in the PSAP toolbox:
To do this…

Do this…

Select a target area for editing

Click the Target area pointer icon
and click on the feature
(CT, BG, CDP or CCD) you are interested in editing.

Zoom to the target area

Click the Zoom to target area icon
to show the target area in
the map window. Note: The software does not automatically
zoom to the target area once selected in the Target Area drop
down menu, or with the Target area pointer

Zoom to view the entire map

Click the Show entire map icon
to show the entire extent
of the county you are working on in the map window.

Edit the feature name and code

Click the Edit attribute data icon
to edit the feature name
and code by clicking on the CT, BG, CDP or CCD that you are
interested in editing. When the “Edit Layer” is Census Tracts
and the “Update” selection is “Special Land Use” this tool
allows you to delineate a special land use CT and provide the
“name”, “code”, “land use type” and “official name” attributes
for the special land use CT.

Show or hide boundary eligibility

to symbolize
Click the Show boundary eligibility icon
the line features as Acceptable, Questionable and Not
Acceptable. This tool is discussed in more detail in “5.3
Additional Tools for Reviewing and Editing” 8 .

Select features or faces for editing Click the Select by pointing from the face area layer icon
to select faces in the selected statistical areas (“Target Area”) to
execute a split, execute a boundary change, or create a new
statistical area, or to merge a statistical area with an adjacent
statistical area by clicking on individual faces or clicking and
dragging a rectangle around the faces to select them. Click the
Select by shape from the face layer icon
to select faces by
a shape in the selected statistical area (“Target Area”) to execute
a split, execute a boundary change, create a new statistical area,
8

Note that in the PSAP MTPS all non-visible boundaries are classified as not acceptable even if they are
considered to be acceptable. Please verify that the non-visible feature (P0001) used as a statistical area
boundary is an acceptable legal or administrative boundary before submitting your statistical area plan.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

or to merge a statistical area with an adjacent statistical area by
clicking on each corner of the area and double-click to close the
shape. When merging a statistical area with an adjacent
statistical area, the icon description is “Select areas to merge”/
“Select by shape areas to merge”. Note: By default, when
features are selected by drawing a rectangle or shape, the PSAP
MTPS finds the map features that are completely contained
within the defined shape. Note: Holding the Ctrl key while
editing with the “Select by pointing from the face area layer” or
the “Select by shape from the face layer” tools removes
previously selected faces.
To review and edit discontiguous

Click the Zoom to the previous discontiguous area icon

areas

and the Zoom to the next discontiguous area icon
to
review and edit all discontiguous areas associated with the edit
you are executing. This tool is discussed in more detail in “5.3.
Additional Tools for Reviewing and Editing”.

Cancel the current edit

Execute and save the current edit

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

4.2 PSAP Toolbox: Drop Down Menus
4.2.1 Edit Layer
1. The first time you open the PSAP MTPS for a county the default layer is the “Census
Tract” edit layer. The next time the PSAP MTPS is opened, the last feature layer
worked on will be the active layer.
2. The preferred order of reviewing and editing the statistical area plans is (1) CTs, (2)
BGs, (3) CDPs, and (4) CCDs 9 . This user guide is based on this preferred order of
work.
3. To work on the PSAP geography plans for BGs, CDPs and CCDs, or to return to the
CT plan, choose your desired edit layer from the “Edit Layer” drop down menu in the
PSAP toolbox. Note: When you switch the “Edit Layer” the PSAP MTPS may
process for several minutes.

The Census Bureau requires that you create a set of backup files after you’ve
completed the review and update for one statistical area/“Edit Layer” and before
switching to a different statistical area/ “Edit Layer” (e.g., after you completed the
review and update of census tract Edit Layer and before you switch to the census
block group Edit Layer) at a minimum. It is preferred that this set of backup files be
made after the “Verify” has been run for the statistical area plan. To create a set of
backup files, close the PSAP MTPS and copy and paste the entire MTPSData folder. The
Census Bureau suggests renaming the copied and pasted backup folder with MTPSData,
the county name or state-county FIPS code (SSCCC) and the statistical area edited, e.g.,
“MTPSData_24033_CT”, or “MTPSData_Fairfield_CDP”. For example, after you’ve
completed your CT review and update for 27053:
1. Run the “Verify” tool and address any specific census tracts that did not pass
verification (re-run the “Verify” tool as necessary)
2. Close the PSAP MTPS
3. Navigate to your MTPSData folder
4. Copy and paste the entire folder
5. Rename the folder “MTPSData_27053_CT”.
6. After you create a set of backup files you may reopen the PSAP MTPS and begin
reviewing and updating BGs.

Applicable only for the CCD states indicated in footnote 3.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

4.2.2 Update
1. Choose an update selection from the “Update” drop down menu in the PSAP toolbox.
An update selection is a specific universe of areas to work with. Many update
selections may select those statistical areas that do not meet criteria (e.g., are above or
below thresholds), or indicate areas that may require a special type of designation.

Note: Each statistical area within the “Update” selection (except for statistical areas
within the “All” selection) must be edited so that it meets criteria/no longer is within the
Update selection, or a justification must be provided as to why it should not be
edited/should be maintained for Census 2010.

2. The software will select all those statistical areas within the “Edit Layer” that meet the
“Update” selection chosen. The selected statistical areas will be both shaded within
the map window and available on the “Target Area” drop down menu and to be
selected by the “Target Area” tool.
3. For each PSAP geography level in the “Edit Layer” there are unique “Update”
selections.
The sequence items within the “Update” drop down menu is the sequence the participant
should follow when updating the statistical areas, starting with the first item, on by
default when the “Edit Layer” is first launched, and working through to the last item in
the menu. For example, for BGs the “Update” drop down menu sequence is
renumbering, below minimum, above maximum, and shape index.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Census Tracts
Update Selection

Statistical areas selected

All
Below Minimum

All CTs.
The CTs that have a Census 2000 population and/or housing unit
count below the minimum thresholds: a population count of 1,200
or less or a housing unit threshold of 480 or less. Below minimum
CTs will be highlighted with a red fill pattern. Note: The first time
you open the Census Tract “Edit Layer” the default “Update”
selection is below minimum.
Above Maximum
The CTs that have a Census 2000 population and/or housing unit
count above the maximum thresholds: a population count of 8,000
or more or a housing unit threshold of 3,200 or more. Above
maximum CTs will be highlighted with a green fill pattern.
AIR/ORTL/HHL
The CTs that split an American Indian Reservation (AIR), off
reservation trust lands (ORTL) and/or Hawaiian home lands
(HHL) with a population of 2,400 or less and a HU count of 960 or
less. AIR/ORTL/HHL CTs will be highlighted with a purple fill
pattern.
AIR/ORTL/HHL Renumbering The CTs that have a majority of population and/or area in an
AIR/ORTL and do not have a CT code in the 94XX series.
AIR/ORTL/HHL Renumbering CTs will be highlighted with an
orange fill.
Water
The CTs consisting completely of water.
Special Land Use
No statistical areas are selected. (You are given the option to
delineate special land use CTs by designating a name, code, land
use type, and official name for the special land use CT.)
Shape Index
The CTs that failed the shape index threshold. This minimum
threshold assures that CTs are compact, and compares between the
ratio of the area of the potential CT to its perimeter and the ratio of
a circle of equal area to its circumference. Shape index CTs will
be highlighted with an orange fill.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Census Block Groups
Update Selection
All
Renumbering

Below Minimum

Above Maximum

Shape Index

Census Designated Places
Update Selection
All
Below Minimum

Census County Divisions
Update Selection
All

Statistical Areas Selected
All BGs.
The BGs that are renumbered by the software so that the BG code
(number) is between 1-9 and is unique within a CT. Renumbered
BGs will be highlighted with a light green fill. Note: This update
selection only updates those BGs that had duplicate or invalid BG
numbers as a result of CT editing. Participants are requested to
manually review and renumber BGs sequentially after all BG edits
are completed. Note: The first time you open the Census Block
Group “Edit Layer” the default “Update” selection is renumbering.
The BGs that have a Census 2000 population and/or housing unit
count below the minimum thresholds: a population count of 600 or
less or a housing unit threshold of 240 or less. Below minimum
BGs will be highlighted with a red fill.
The BGs that have a Census 2000 population and/or housing unit
count above the maximum thresholds: a population count of 3,000
or more or a housing unit threshold of 1,200 or more. 10 Above
maximum BGs will be highlighted with a green fill.
The BGs that failed the shape index threshold. This threshold
assures BGs are compact, and compares between the ratio of the
area of the BG to its perimeter and the ratio of a circle of equal
area to its circumference. Shape index BGs will be highlighted
with an orange fill.

Statistical Areas Selected
All CDPs.
The CDPs that have a housing unit count below the minimum
threshold: a housing unit threshold of 10. Below minimum CDPs
will be highlighted with a red fill. 11 Note: The first time you open
the Census Designated Places “Edit Layer” the default “Update”
selection is below minimum.

Statistical Areas Selected
All CCDs. Note: The first time you open the Census County
Divisions “Edit Layer” the default “Update” selection is all.

Where a special land use tract meets thresholds the coextensive special land use block group will be
“above maximum”. In this case, do not edit the block group; provide the justification “Special land use
block group”.
11
The PSAP MTPS may warn the user that a CDP should have a minimum housing unit count of at least 3,
and not the actual minimum housing unit count of 10 due to an inconsistency in the software. Should the
CDP be defined with fewer than 10 housing units the CDP should be edited or a justification should be
provided as to why this CDP should be retained.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

4.2.3 Target Area
1. After selecting the “Edit Layer” and the “Update” selection, choose a specific target
area from the “Target Area” drop down menu or the “Target Area Pointer” button.
2. Make a choice as follows to make the area the target (shaded in gray on the map):
To do this…

Do this…

Pick the target area in the
toolbox

Choose a target area from the “Target Area” drop down menu

Pick the target area on the map Click

and click in an area on the map

Note: When you set the “Update” selection set to any selection other than “All” (e.g.,
Above Maximum, Below Minimum, Shape Index), and you select a target area you will
be required to either edit the target area so that it meets that specific criteria or provide a
justification as to why the target area should remain as it is/should not be edited before
reviewing a different statistical area.
3. Click

to zoom to the target area that you have selected.

4.2.4 Action
1. After selecting the “Edit Layer”, the “Update” selection, and the specific “Target
Area”, you can choose an action to execute from the “Action” drop down menu.

2. The software allows you to perform the action chosen from the “Action” drop down
menu to the “Target Area” selected, and in most situations adjacent areas.
3. For each statistical area in the “Edit Layer” there are distinct actions in the “Action”
drop down menu. Also, for each update selection in the “Update” there is a preferred
action that is set as the default for the “Update”.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Census Tracts
Note: Since BGs by definition nest within (or are completely contained within) CTs, as CTs are edited
the underlying BGs are edited so that the BGs automatically nest within and are coded to the updated
CTs.

Action
Boundary Change
Merge
Split

Description
Edit the “Target Area” CT by adding small areas to the CT.
Combine the whole “Target Area” CT with one or more adjacent
CTs to create one new CT.
Divide the “Target Area” CT into two distinct CTs.

Census Block Groups
Note: Since BGs by definition nest within (or are completely contained within) CTs, as CTs are edited
the underlying BGs are edited so that the BGs automatically nest within and are coded to the updated
CTs.

Action

Description

Boundary Change
Merge

Edit the “Target Area” BG by adding small areas to the BG.
Combine the whole “Target Area” BG to one or more adjacent
BGs to create one new BG.
Divide the “Target Area” BG into two distinct BGs.

Split

Census Designated Places
Action

Description

Boundary Change - Add
Boundary Change – Remove

Edit the “Target Area” CDP by adding small areas to the CDP.
Edit the “Target Area” CDP by removing small areas from the
CDP.
Create a new CDP by selecting the area that represents the new
CDP to be created and assigning the appropriate attribute
information.
Completely remove/delete the “Target Area” CDP by selecting the
CDP to be removed.

New Entity

Remove

Census County Divisions
Action

Description

Boundary Change
Merge

Edit the “Target Area” CCD by adding small areas to the CCD.
Combine the whole “Target Area” CCD to one or more adjacent
CCDs to create one new CCD.
Divide the “Target Area” CCD into two distinct CCDs.

Split

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Review and Edit the Statistical Areas
The Census Bureau will only accept one submission for each county containing all of
the statistical area edits for the county. Portions of a county’s statistical area
submission cannot be merged together. Where more than one technical participant is
editing the statistical areas within the county, each individual participant must update the
same shapefiles for the county (i.e., one participant may update the statistical area plan
for the county, and once their work is completed they must share their updated shapefiles
with the other participant conducting the update).
The work flow for the PSAP should follow the following order:
1) CTs
2) BGs
3) CDPs
4) CCDs
Additionally the work flow within each statistical area “Edit Layer” should follow the
sequence of items within the “Update” drop down menu.
When a CT, BG, or CDP within an update selection is not edited (i.e., the update criteria
are not met by editing) the PSAP MTPS will require that the participant provide a
justification as to why the area should remain as it is/should not be edited.
Once the CT, BG CDP, and CCD plans for a county are complete, you can begin working
on the next county in your assigned area (if one is available) to review and update the
statistical area plans for that county.
Remember, the Census Bureau requires that you periodically back up your work.
At a minimum, you must create a set of backup files after you’ve completed the
review and update for one statistical area/“Edit Layer” and before switching to a
different statistical area/ “Edit Layer”. To create a set of backup files, copy and paste
the entire MTPSData folder while outside of the PSAP MTPS editing session (the PSAP
MTPS is not open). The Census Bureau suggests renaming the copied and pasted backup
folder with MTPSData, the county name or state-county FIPS code (SSCCC) and the
statistical area edited, e.g., “MTPSData_24033_CT”, or “MTPSData_Fairfield_CDP”.
After you create a set of backup files you may reopen the PSAP MTPS and begin
reviewing and updating BGs.
Note: For those PSAP primary participants covering more than one county, the Census
Bureau requests that participants review, update, and submit statistical areas for one
county within 60 calendar days so that the Census Bureau can review the submission to
ensure participants are successful in implementing the PSAP criteria and guidelines,
using the PSAP MTPS to review and edit statistical areas, and generating proposed
statistical area submissions. The Census Bureau will provide feedback to the participant
on their submission, and if necessary provide additional guidance on the criteria and

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

guidelines and/or PSAP MTPS usage. Should you not be able to meet this request
contact your RCC.

5.1 Updates and Actions Used to Edit the Statistical Areas
For all statistical areas, splits and merges should be executed before boundary
changes are executed.
Turn on the “Show Boundary Eligibility Theme” tool before you begin to review
and edit any of the statistical areas in an “Edit Layer”. When editing statistical
areas be sure to use acceptable features as the statistical area boundaries, wherever
possible.
Again, the sequence of items within the “Update” drop down menu is the sequence the
participant should follow when updating the statistical areas, starting with the first item,
on by default when the “Edit Layer” is first launched, and working through to the last
item in the menu. For example, for BGs the “Update” drop down menu sequence is
renumbering, below minimum, above maximum, and shape index.
After the items within “Update” drop down menu are addressed, the participant should
update those other items that need to be addressed as indicated in the PSAP Program
Guidelines and the Update: “All” sections in the table below, for example editing
boundaries so that they follow acceptable boundary features, or in the case of BGs
recoding BGs so that they are sequential within a CT.
The following are the actions and tools to use for the specific update selections:
Census Tracts
Update:
Actions/tools used:
Below
Minimum

Merge,
Boundary Change

Above
Maximum

Split,
Boundary Change

AIR/ORTL/
HHL

All Actions

AIR/ORTL/
HHL
Renumbering

"Edit attribute
information" tool

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Edit to…
Increase the population and housing unit counts of the CT
so that the CT exceeds the minimum population count
(1,200) and housing unit count (480). Note: Merge is the
preferred action to use with below minimum CTs so that
the outer boundary of the CT is maintained, and therefore
data comparability over time is maintained.
Decrease the population and housing unit counts of the CT
so that the CT population and housing unit counts fall
under the thresholds of 8,000 (population) and 3,200
(housing unit). Note: Split is the preferred action to use
with above maximum CTs so that the outer boundary of
the CT is maintained, and therefore data comparability
over time is maintained.
Edit CTs so that AIR/ORTL/HHL are in as few CTs as
possible. Delineate a CT that encompasses (does not split)
an AIR/ORTL/HHL with a population count under 2,400
and a housing unit count under 960. Use Merge, Boundary
Change and/or Split.
Assign a CT code within the 94XX series to the CT that
has the majority of its area or population covered by an
AIR/ORTL. Where the PSAP MTPS does not

automatically assign the 94XX series CT code to these
areas, use "Edit attribute information" tool.
Assign the existing or new delineated water CT (code
0000) to a CT code in the 99XX series. Use "Edit
attribute information" tool.
Edit the boundary of the water CT so that it follows a
non visible P0002 feature inserted in the water parallel
to the shoreline (not the shoreline).
Special Land All Actions,
Delineate a Special Land Use CT that encompasses a
Use
"Edit attribute
major airport, business/employment area, college,
information" tool
hospital, jail, military area, or public park or public
forest that has zero or low population or housing units,
or meets thresholds, using Merge, Boundary Change
and/or Split. Then use the "Edit attribute information"
tool to assign the name, code, land use type, and official
name to the Special Land Use CT.
Use "Edit attribute information" tool to assign the name,
code, land use type, and official name to an existing
Special Land Use CT.
Shape Index
All Actions
Delineate a CT that meets the shape index criteria (the
ratio of the area of the CT to its perimeter and the ratio of
the circle of equal area to its circumference is above 0.15)
using Merge, Boundary Change, and/or Split
All
All Actions,
Create two or more CTs from one CT
“Edit attribute
Create one CT by combining two or more CTs
information" tool,
Edit CT boundaries
“Show boundary
Edit CT attribute information
eligibility theme”
Update the boundaries that currently follow not
acceptable boundary features by editing the boundary so
that it follows an acceptable boundary feature or
correcting the classification (MTFCC) of the boundary
feature (if it is an acceptable boundary feature coded as a
not acceptable boundary feature).
All Actions for census tracts are Boundary Change, Merge, and Split.
Water

All Actions,
"Edit attribute
information" tool

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Census Block Groups
Update:
Actions/tools used:
Renumbering

Edit to…

"Edit attribute
information" tool

Renumbers BGs that do not have valid BG codes. Note:
BG numbers must be unique within a CT and be 0-9
(with 0 reserved for BGs that completely consist of
water/no land area). The Renumbering update is
automatically executed when the Census Block Group
edit layer is selected after CT edits are made, as the
resulting BGs may require BG renumbering if there are
duplicate BG codes or invalid BG codes. Selecting the
Renumbering update after BG edits are made will
renumber all BGs with duplicate or invalid codes. Note:
After BG editing is completed the participant must
review BG coding and recode all BGs that are not coded
sequentially through the “Edit attribute information” tool.
Below
Merge,
Increase the population and housing unit counts of the
Minimum
Boundary Change
BG so that the BG exceeds the minimum population
count (600) and housing unit count (240). Note: Either
Merge or Boundary Change is equally valid to use for
BGs as comparability over time is less of a concern for
BG data.
Above
Split,
Decrease the population and housing unit counts of the
Maximum
Boundary Change
BG so that the BG population and housing unit counts
fall under the thresholds of 3,000 (population) and 1,200
(housing unit). Note: Either Split or Boundary Change is
equally valid to use for BGs as comparability over time is
less of a concern for BG data.
Shape Index
All Actions
Delineate a BG that meets the shape index criteria (the
ratio of the area of the BG to its perimeter and the ratio of
the circle of equal area to its circumference is above 0.15)
by Merge, Boundary Change, and/or Split.
All
All Actions,
Create two or more BGs from one BG
"Edit attribute
Create one BG by combining two or more BGs edit BG
information" tool,
boundaries
“Show boundary
Recode BGs so that they are numbered sequentially
eligibility theme”
within a CT
Create water BGs for smaller water bodies that are not
designated as water CTs
Edit BG attribute information
Update the boundaries that currently follow not
acceptable boundary features by editing the boundary
so that it follows an acceptable boundary feature or
correcting the classification (MTFCC) of the boundary
feature (if it is an acceptable boundary feature coded as
a not acceptable boundary feature).
All Actions for census block groups are Boundary Change, Merge, and Split.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Census Designated Places
Update:
Actions/tools used:
Below
Minimum
All

Edit to…

Boundary Change - Add

Delineate a CDP that meets the minimum housing unit
count of 10.
All Actions,
Create a new CDP
"Edit attribute
Remove an existing CDP
information" tool,
Edit the boundary or attributes of an existing CDP
“Show boundary
Edit CDP attribute information (including name)
eligibility theme”
Where it would not significantly overbound or
underbound the community (CDP), update the
boundaries that currently follow not acceptable
boundary features by editing the boundary so that it
follows an acceptable boundary feature or correcting
the classification (MTFCC) of the boundary feature (if
it is an acceptable boundary feature coded as a not
acceptable boundary feature).
All Actions for CDPs are Boundary Change-Add, Boundary Change-Remove, New Entity, and
Remove.

Census County Divisions
Update:
Actions/tools used:

Edit to…

Create two or more CCDs from one CCD (split),
Create one CCD by combining two or more CCDs
(merge)
Edit CCD boundaries so that CCD boundaries follow
CT boundaries (one or more CTs nest within the CCD
or one or more CCDs nest within a CT) (boundary
change)
Edit CCD attribute information (including name)
Update the boundaries that currently follow not
acceptable boundary features by editing the boundary
so that it follows an acceptable boundary feature or
correcting the classification (MTFCC) of the boundary
feature (if it is an acceptable boundary feature coded as
a not acceptable boundary feature).
All Actions for CCDs are Boundary Change, Merge, and Split.
All

All Actions,
"Edit attribute
information" tool, “Show
boundary eligibility
theme”

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

5.2 Steps to Execute Actions to Edit the Statistical Areas
5.2.1 Census Tracts, Block Groups, Census Designated Places and
Census County Divisions
The Census Bureau strongly recommends periodically backing up your work. At a
minimum, you must create a set of backup files after you’ve completed the review
and update for one statistical area/“Edit Layer” and before switching to a different
statistical area/ “Edit Layer”. To create a set of backup files, copy and paste the entire
MTPSData folder while outside of the PSAP MTPS editing session (the PSAP MTPS is
not open). The Census Bureau suggests renaming the copied and pasted backup folder
with MTPSData, the county name or state-county FIPS code (SSCCC) and the statistical
area edited, e.g., “MTPSData_24033_CT”, or “MTPSData_Fairfield_CDP”.
After you create a set of backup files you may reopen the PSAP MTPS and begin
reviewing and updating BGs.

Undo changes
If you execute an action and the action did not produce the desired or expected outcome,
you can undo your edit by going to “Edit: Undo [previous action]” provided that you are
in the same editing session and did not “Close” the county you are working on.
Additionally, you can undo all changes for an edit layer by going to “PSAP: Undo All
Changes”. Refer to section “3.1 PSAP Menu” for information on the “Undo All
Changes” tool.
Revert to backed up data or reset a single county
In extreme cases where the files become corrupted for a county, it may become necessary
to either revert to the work you backed up or to reset that county’s data. If you backed up
your work you may revert to your backed up work by deleting the corrupted
“MTPSData” folder, copying and pasting the entire backed up folder and renaming the
copied and pasted backup folder “MTPSData”. If you did not back up your work, you
will need to reset that county’s data. Refer to Appendix C – Reset a Single County for
instructions to reset a single county.
Edit attribute information tool
The “Edit attribute information” tool is available for the Census Tract, Census Block
Group, Census Designated Place and Census County Division “Edit Layer”. Use the
“Edit attribute information” tool to:
Edit CT codes
Designate the codes, land use types, and official names for special land use CTs
Edit BG codes

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Designate or edit CDP names and codes 12
Designate or edit CCD names and codes

Edit Not Acceptable Boundary Features
The Show Boundary Eligibility Theme/Hide Boundary Eligibility Theme tool is available
for the Census Tract, Census Block Group, Census Designated Place and Census County
Division “Edit Layer”. Selecting the boundary eligibility theme (“show”) symbolizes the
line features as Acceptable, Questionable and Not Acceptable.

Select (“show”) the boundary eligibility theme:
When editing a statistical area (e.g., split, boundary change, new entity) so that
you use acceptable features as the boundary of the statistical area.
When reviewing and updating boundaries that follow not acceptable boundary
features. Edit the boundaries that follow not acceptable features by editing the
boundary so that it follows an acceptable boundary feature or correcting the
classification (MTFCC) of the boundary feature (if it is an acceptable boundary
feature coded as a not acceptable boundary feature). This review should be done
for all CTs, BGs, CDPs and CCDs (each Edit Layer) after all of the other updates
for the Edit Layer are completed.
Note: In the PSAP MTPS all non-visible boundaries are classified as not acceptable even
if they are considered to be acceptable. Please verify that the non-visible feature (P0001)
used as a statistical area boundary is an acceptable legal or administrative boundary
before submitting your statistical area plan.
Refer to section “5.3 Additional Tools for Reviewing and Editing” for information about
the noncontiguous features tool and the unacceptable boundary features tool, and section
“5.4 Justifications” for information about providing justifications for specific statistical
areas not edited to meet the PSAP requirements.

When editing the name of an existing CDP or creating a new CDP in Puerto Rico, append zona urbana
(or “ZA”) to the zona urbana CDP name, and comunidad (or "comun") to the comunidad CDP name.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

5.2.2 Census Tracts, Block Groups, and Census County Divisions
Note: As CTs are edited, the underlying BGs are edited so that the BGs automatically
nest within and are coded to the updated CTs.
Merge
The Merge “Action” is available for the Census Tract, Census Block Group, and Census
County Division “Edit Layer”.
1. Set the “Update” selection in the PSAP Toolbox, and select the specific “Target Area”
in the PSAP Toolbox by using the Target Area drop down or using the
“Target
Area Pointer” tool.
2. Select Merge from the “Action” drop down menu.

3. To merge the target area with one or more adjacent CTs (when in the Census Tract
“Edit Layer”, BGs (when in the Census Block Group “Edit Layer”), or CCDs (when in
the Census County Division “Edit Layer”) select one or more adjacent CTs, BGs, or
CCDs using the
“Select by pointing from the face area layer” or the
shape from the face layer”.

“Select by

Note: When the update selection is set to Below Minimum (in the Census Tract or
Census Block Group “Edit Layer”) and one or more adjacent CTs or BGs also fall
below the minimum thresholds, a message will appear: “the following adjacent
[CTs/BGs] also have values below the minimum [list of the CTs/BGs].” It is
recommended that the two or more below minimum CTs/BGs are merged to meet the
thresholds.
4. To execute the action and accept the merge edits select
cancel the action and reject the edits select the

“Save edits”. (Note: To

“Cancel edits”.)

Split
The Split “Action” is available for the Census Tract , Census Block Group and Census
County Division “Edit Layer”.
1. Set the “Update” selection in the PSAP Toolbox, and the specific “Target Area” in the
PSAP Toolbox or using the
“Target Area Pointer” tool.
2. Select Split from the “Action” drop down menu.

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3. To split the target area select one or more adjacent faces within the target area using
the
“Select by pointing from the face area layer” or the
from the face layer”.
4. To execute the action and accept the split edits select
cancel the action and reject the edits select the

“Select by shape

“Save edits”. (Note: To

“Cancel edits”.)

5. Enter the CT codes for the new CTs. Note: The software will automatically suggest
the next available CT code.

Note: If a CT is split, each portion should keep the same basic 4-digit identifier, but
each portion must be given a new unique suffix. If a CT that was suffixed for Census
2000 is split, each portion must be given a new suffix. The range of acceptable CT
suffixes is .01 to .98. Where possible, the Census Bureau recommends that CT
suffixes follow a sequential, logical order within a CT. The use the “Edit Attribute
Information” tool to change CT suffixes for those 2000 CTs that were split for 2010
and have been assigned suffixes in a non-sequential pattern by the PSAP MTPS.
Enter the BG code for the new BG. Note: The software will automatically suggest the
next available BG code within the CT.

Enter the census county division name and code for the new census county divisions.
Note: The software will automatically suggest the name of the largest (most populous)
incorporated place or CDP in the CCD as the CCD name. The software will also
automatically suggest the next available default CCD code.

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Boundary Change
The Boundary Change “Action” is available for the Census Tract, Census Block Group,
and Census County Division “Edit Layer”(Note: Boundary Change – Add and Boundary
Change – Remove are available in the Census Designated Place “Edit Layer”).
Note: Before executing any boundary changes first execute all needed splits and merges.
Note: When editing CT boundaries, remember that comparability is important to the CT
program. Editing a questionable or ineligible CT boundary so that it follows a nearby
acceptable feature is acceptable if roughly five percent or less of the Census 2000
population/housing units are affected by the change. This requirement excludes
redefinition for CTs defined to better encompass AIRs/ORTLs/HHLs, for special land
use CTs, and/or for water CTs. Refer to the PSAP Program Guidelines for additional
information on CT redefinition.
1. Set the “Update” selection in the PSAP Toolbox, and the specific “Target Area” in the
PSAP Toolbox or using the
“Target Area Pointer” tool.
2. Select Boundary Change from the “Action” drop down menu.

3. To change the boundary of the target area, select one or more faces in one or more
adjacent CTs (when in the Census Tract “Edit Layer”), BGs (when in the Census
Block Group “Edit Layer”), or CCDs (when in the Census County Division “Edit
Layer”) using the
“Select by pointing from the face area layer” or the
by shape from the face layer”.
4. To execute the action and accept the boundary change edits select
(Note: To cancel the action and reject the edits select the

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

“Select

“Save edits”.

“Cancel edits”.)

5.2.3 Census Tracts
Designate special land use CTs
Note: Participants are not required to delineate special land use CTs.
1. Set the “Update” selection to All in the PSAP toolbox.
2. Split the tract that will be designated as the special land use CT, if necessary.
3. Select Special Land Use in the “Update” selection.
4. Use the
“Edit attribute information” tool to select the CT that will be designated
as the special land use CT.
5. The Special Land Use Information dialog box opens.
(1) Enter the new special land use CT code. The software automatically suggests
the next available CT code in the 98XX series if the special land use CT has zero
population/housing units, or the next available code in the standard CT series if
the special land use CT meets thresholds. Note: CTs designated as a special land
use CTs with no population or housing units must be numbered in the 98XX
series.
(2) Specify the appropriate land use type in the “Land Use Type” drop down
menu:
A
Airport 13
B
Business/Industrial Park, Central Business District, or other major
place-of-work 14
C
College, University, Boarding School, or other major educational
institution
H
Hospital, Nursing Home, or other major health care facility
J
Jail, Prison, or other major correctional facility
M
Military
P
Park (National, State, or other major Tribal or Local Park)
(3) Provide the official name of the special land use CT in the “Official Name”
field.

Commercial airports with 10,000 or more enplanements (number of passengers boarding an aircraft) per
year should be made an airport special land use CTs. Other commercial airports may be made airport CTs
if they have 2,500 or more enplanements per year. Other airports should only be made airport CTs if they
are major regional airports and the resulting CT will be as large or larger than the surround standard CTs.
2007 Enplanement is data can be found at:
.
14
Areas with 1,200 or more employees/ workers at place of work should be defined a Business/Industrial
Park, Central Business District, or other major place-of-work type special land use CT.

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(4) Select the OK button.

Note: Where a special land use CT is designated a special land use BG will be
designated coextensive with, or covering the same area as, the special land use CT.
Where a populated special land use CT (meets thresholds) is delineated, the coextensive
BG will be considered “Above Maximum” by the PSAP MTPS but is acceptable.
Designate water CTs
Note: Participants are required to delineate water CTs for territorial seas, coastal waters,
and the Great Lakes, but are not required to define water CTs for other areas.
1. Set the “Update” selection to All in the PSAP toolbox.
2. Before adding any new line features, go to “Edit: Preferences” and change the default
snap tolerance from 50 to 10 feet. This will prevent undesirable line snaps and shifting.
Refer to section “3.6 Line Editing Toolbox” for information on line editing and line
editing preferences.
3. Use the Line Editing toolbox to line feature parallel to the shoreline. Code the line
feature as a P0002 – Nonvisible Hydrographic Legal/Statistical Boundary. This will be
the new water CT boundary.
4. Set the “Update” selection to All in the PSAP toolbox.
5. Split the water CT area from the parent CT (the land/water CT or the Census 2000
former water CT using the shoreline as a boundary) using the new P0002 boundary
inserted parallel to the shoreline. Note: A water CT must consist of only water; any
islands or other land within a qualifying water body must be designated as its own
separate CT (if it meets the population/housing unit thresholds) or included within an
adjacent land-based CT.
6. Set the “Update” selection to Water in the PSAP toolbox, and use the “Edit Attribute
Information” tool to code the new water CT in the 99XX series.

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7. If a Census 2000 water CT existed, merge the portion of the parent CT that is not part
of the new water CT (most likely the area between the shoreline and the new P0002
feature) with the adjacent land CT.
Note: Where a water CT is designated a water BG will be designated coextensive with,
or covering the same area as, the water CT.

5.2.4 Block Groups
Designate water BGs
Note: Participants are not required to delineate water BGs .
1. Set the “Update” selection to All in the PSAP toolbox.
2. Split the water BG area from the parent BG (the land/water block group)
3. Code the new water BG “0” and code the other portion of the parent BG the next
available and appropriate code within the CT.
Recoding BGs
The Census Bureau requests that participants review all BG codes after BG editing is
completed. If the BG codes within a CT are not sequential, recode the BGs within the
tract in a serpentine fashion, starting with one in the northwest portion of the tract and
continuing using as many BG codes as needed up to the maximum of nine (e.g., if there
are 4 BGs in the CT, the BGs will be coded 1, 2, 3, 4 and not 1, 4, 5, 9). This excludes
water BGs that are coextensive with water body CTs and coded as 0.
1. Set the “Update” selection to All in the PSAP toolbox.
2. Use the “Edit Attribute Information” tool to recode BGs so that all BG codes within a
CT are sequential.

5.2.5 Census Designated Places
Boundary Change – Add
The Boundary Change - Add “Action” is available for the CDP “Edit Layer”.
1. Set the “Update” selection in the PSAP Toolbox, and the specific “Target Area” in the
PSAP Toolbox or using the
“Target Area Pointer” tool.
2. Select Boundary Change - Add from the “Action” drop down menu.

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3. To change the boundary by adding area to the target area, select one or more faces in
one or more adjacent area using the
“Select by pointing from the face area layer”
or the

“Select by shape from the face layer”.

4. To execute the action and accept the boundary change - add edits select
edits”. (Note: To cancel the action and reject the edits select the

“Save

“Cancel edits”.)

Boundary Change – Remove
The Boundary Change - Remove “Action” is available for the CDP “Edit Layer”.
1. Set the “Update” selection in the PSAP Toolbox, and the specific “Target Area” in the
PSAP Toolbox or using the
“Target Area Pointer” tool.
2. Select Boundary Change -Remove from the “Action” drop down menu.

3. To change the boundary by removing area from the target area, select one or more
faces within the target area using the
“Select by pointing from the face area layer”
or the

“Select by shape from the face layer”.

4. To execute the action and accept the boundary change - remove edits select
edits. (Note: To cancel the action and reject the edits select the

“Save

“Cancel edits”.)

New Entity
The New Entity “Action” is available for the CDP “Edit Layer”.
1. Set the “Update” selection to All in the PSAP Toolbox.
2. Select New Entity from the “Action” drop down menu.

3. Select faces that are not already covered by an existing CDP or incorporated place
using the
“Select by pointing from the face area layer” or the
shape from the face layer” to create a new statistical area.

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“Select by

4. To execute the action and accept the new statistical area edits select
(Note: To cancel the action and reject the edits select the

“Save edits”.

“Cancel edits”.)

5. Enter the name of the new CDP and check the box if the CDP extends into an adjacent
county.
Note: When entering the name of the new CDP do not append the term “CDP” at the end
of the name. Also note that the software will automatically assign a code to the CDP.
Note: When editing the name of an existing CDP or creating a new CDP in Puerto Rico,
append zona urbana (or “ZA”) to the zona urbana CDP name, and comunidad (or
"comun") to the comunidad CDP name.
Remove
The Remove “Action” is available for the CDP “Edit Layer”.
1. Set the “Update” selection in the PSAP Toolbox, and the specific “Target Area” in the
PSAP Toolbox or using the
“Target Area Pointer” tool.
2. Set Remove from the “Action” drop down menu.

3. To execute the action and accept the remove edit select
cancel the action and reject the edits select the

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

“Save edits”. (Note: To

“Cancel edits”.)

5.3 Additional Tools for Reviewing and Editing
When editing a CT, BG, CDP, or CCD often one or more faces gets mistakenly included
or excluded in the selection. After selecting
“Save edits” the PSAP MTPS
automatically checks for noncontiguous faces created by executing an action, and
prompts you to review and fix the noncontiguous faces by adding or removing the face(s)
from the selection before the edit is saved.
When you are finished reviewing and executing the spatial edits for all statistical areas in
the Edit Layer, specifically those that do not meet criteria featured in “Update”
selections, review statistical area boundaries to assure they follow acceptable boundary
features. If the statistical area boundaries do not follow acceptable features, either edit
the boundary so that it follows a acceptable boundary or correcting the classification of
the boundary feature if it is coded incorrectly. Note that CDP boundaries should be
edited so that they follow acceptable boundary features where it would not significantly
overbound or underbound the CDP.

5.3.1 Discontiguous features
Should noncontiguous areas exist within the edited statistical area:
1. A dialog box will popup warning you that the statistical area contain discontiguous
areas that are not islands.
2. The PSAP MTPS will provide the options to (1) cancel the operation for the moment
(the selected features will be retained) and run the discontiguous tools to review and edit
the noncontiguous feature(s) created, or (2) continue, and accept (provide a justification
for) the target area as it is delineated with discontiguous areas.
Discontiguous tools:

To review and edit the discontiguous features use the following buttons in the PSAP
toolbox:
Select this…
“Zoom to the previous
discontiguous area”
“Zoom to the next
discontiguous area”

To do this…
To review and edit the previous discontiguous area in the
target area(s).
To review and edit the next discontiguous area in the target
area(s).

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Use the
Select by pointing from the face area layer tool to select or remove faces that
are noncontiguous. When the noncontiguous faces have been edited, select the
Save
Edits tool.
If the noncontiguous areas are intentional (e.g., the noncontiguous areas are islands
within a water body CT) provide a justification as to why the area should remain as it
is/should not be edited.

5.3.2 Unacceptable boundary features
Review all CT, BG and CCD boundaries. Edit the boundaries that follow not acceptable
boundary features so that the boundary follows an acceptable boundary feature. Review
all CDP boundaries and, where it would not significantly overbound or underbound the
community (CDP), edit the boundaries that follow not acceptable boundary features so
that the boundary follows an acceptable boundary feature. If the boundary feature is
misclassified, correct the classification (MTFCC) of the boundary feature.
The “Show Boundary Eligibility Theme/Hide Boundary Eligibility Theme” tool
symbolizes the line features as Acceptable, Questionable and Not Acceptable.
Show Boundary Eligibility Theme/Hide Boundary Eligibility Theme:
To review unacceptable boundary features use the show boundary eligibility theme/hide
boundary eligibility theme

To update unacceptable boundary features, either:
1. Use the Boundary Change Action for CTs, BGs, and CCDs, or the Boundary Change
– Add and Boundary Change – Remove for CDPs to edit the boundary so that it follows
an acceptable boundary feature, or
2. Use the Line editing tool box
Edit Line Attributes tool to correct the MTFCC of
the boundary feature (if it is an acceptable boundary feature coded as a not acceptable
boundary feature).

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

5.4 Justifications
For all statistical areas selected the “Update” selections (except the “Update” All
selection) you must:

Edit the statistical area through the actions in the “Action” drop down, or through
the “Edit attribute information” tool, so that the statistical area meets the
requirements, or
Provide a textual justification explaining why this statistical area should remain as
it is, addressing why the specific requirement in the “Update” drop down is not
being met for this specific statistical area, or the statistical area is noncontiguous.

If you attempt to change the target area within an “Update” selection without editing the
boundary and/or attributes, a window will popup soliciting an explanation for retaining
the statistical area as it exists (justification). Also, if you edit the statistical area through
the actions in the “Action” drop down, or through the “Edit attribute information” tool
and the statistical area does not meet the requirements, a window will popup soliciting an
explanation for why the edited statistical area(s) do not meet the requirements.
Example: “Confirm with Explanation” popup for the Census Tract “Edit Layer”, Above
Maximum “Update”:

Additionally, for all noncontiguous features found when executing an action you must:
Edit the area by adding or removing the noncontiguous faces through the
noncontiguous feature tool, or
Provide a textual justification explaining why this statistical area should remain as
it is, addressing why the statistical area is noncontguous
Acceptable justifications
The following are the acceptable justifications for the statistical areas that do not meet
criteria or guidelines. With appropriate justification, the Census Bureau, at its discretion,
may grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
Current (2008 or earlier), locally produced estimates of population and housing units can
and should be used when reviewing and updating statistical areas, especially in areas that
PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

have experienced considerable growth since Census 2000. Future growth may be
considered, but should only be used to meet the optimum (or exceed the minimum)
threshold. Future growth projections should extend no more than 5 years from the date of
2010 PSAP review and update (i.e., pre-2015) so that the projections are more likely to
be reliable and to best leverage the ACS data. When estimates and projections are used to
meet thresholds, supply the estimate/projection as part of the justification required when
a statistical area does not meet the criteria. Population estimates and projections do not
need to be precise; they just need to show that the 2010 (or 2015) population/housing
units of the area will meet the thresholds.
Census tracts
1. CT is below the minimum population threshold (<1,200 population)
Includes greater than 480 housing units (meets threshold).
County does not include enough population to meet the threshold.
New housing units built since 2000; meets threshold.
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015).
Population counts provided are incorrect.
Seasonal population.
2. CT is below the minimum housing unit threshold (<480 housing units)
Includes greater than 1,200 population (meets threshold).
County does not include enough housing units to meet the threshold.
New housing units built since 2000; will meet threshold.
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015).
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect.
3. CT is above the maximum population threshold (>8,000 population)
Includes fewer than 3,200 housing units (meets threshold).
Population associated with group quarter(s).
Large amount of seasonally occupied housing units.
Population counts provided are incorrect.
4. CT is above the maximum housing unit threshold (>3,200 housing units)
Includes fewer than 8,000 population (meets threshold).
Large amount of seasonally occupied housing units.
Large amount of housing units uninhabitable.
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect.
5. CT is noncontiguous
County is noncontiguous.
Includes islands, causeways or other land in a water body
Block Groups
1. BG is below the minimum population threshold (<600 population)
Includes greater than 240 housing units (meets threshold).
County does not include enough population to meet the threshold.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

New housing units built since 2000; meets threshold.
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015).
Population counts provided are incorrect.
Seasonal population.

2. BG is below the minimum housing unit threshold (<240 housing units)
Includes greater than 600 population (meets threshold).
County does not include enough housing units to meet the threshold.
New housing units built since 2000; will meet threshold.
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015).
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect.
3. BG is above the maximum population threshold (>3,000 population)
Includes fewer than 1,200 housing units (meets threshold).
Population associated with group quarter(s).
Large amount of seasonally occupied housing units.
Population counts provided are incorrect.
4. BG is above the maximum housing unit threshold (>1,200 housing units)
Includes fewer than 3,000 population (meets threshold).
Large amount of seasonally occupied housing units.
Large amount of housing units uninhabitable.
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect.
5. BG is noncontiguous
County is noncontiguous.
Includes islands, causeways, or other land in a water body.
Census Designated Places (CDPs)
1. CDP is below the minimum housing unit guidelines (<10 housing unit)
Includes group quarters.
New housing units built since 2000; will meet threshold.
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015).
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect.
2. CDP is noncontiguous
Military installation excluded.
CDP has two or more separate populated centers, but is considered one
community.
CDP is too large if contiguous.
Census County Divisions (CCDs)
1. CCD is noncontiguous
County is noncontiguous

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Verify and Report Changes

6.1 Verify Your PSAP Plan Work
The “Verify” tool in the PSAP menu is run individually for each statistical area plan (i.e.,
CTs, BGs, CDPs and CCDs) within each county. Specifically, when you complete a
statistical area plan (when each of the statistical areas selected in the “Update” selections
are edited or justified for that “Edit Layer” statistical area type), the “Verify” tool is run
for the “Edit Layer” statistical area type (i.e., Census Tract, Census Block Group, and
Census Designated Place, Census County Division).
1. Choose “Verify” from the PSAP menu. The dialog box pops up:

Note: The Confirm box is customized for each PSAP geography type.
Click OK, and the PSAP MTPS performs the verification tests. The verification
tests check that all statistical areas that required editing were edited successfully
and meet the requirements or have a justification provided, specifically all those
within the “Update” selection drop down (excluding the All selection), all edits that
created noncontiguous features, and all edits that created statistical areas with
unacceptable boundary features.
2. If the plan fails any checks in the verification phase, the PSAP MTPS will report the
type(s) and number of failures for each type. You must fix/edit or provide a
justification for the failed statistical areas as you did in the initial review and update
using the functionalities in the PSAP toolbox. Once all of the failures are fixed/edited
or justified, run the “Verify” tool again. Continue this verification and fix/edit or
justification process until there are no issues identified when the “Verify” tool is run.
At this time you are prompted to review the next PSAP geography in the county or
move onto PSAP geography plans in the next county if completed and verified all the
plans for the current county.
3. If no issues are identified when the “Verify” tool is run you will be notified that the
plan passed the verification phase and are prompted to review the next PSAP
geography in the county or move onto PSAP geography plans in the next county if
completed and verified all the plans for the current county. If all the statistical area
type plans for all counties have passed verify with no outstanding issues to address,
you can report changes for each of the counties.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

6.2 Report Your PSAP Changes
The Census Bureau will only accept one submission for each county containing all of
the statistical area edits for the county. Portions of a county’s statistical area
submission cannot be merged together. Where more than one technical participant is
editing the statistical areas within the county, each individual participant must update the
same shapefiles for the county (i.e., one participant may update the statistical area plan
for the county, and once their work is completed they must share their updated shapefiles
with the other participant conducting the update).
1. Run the “Verify” tool again for each statistical area plan before selecting “Report
Changes” to assure that changes have occurred since you last ran “Verify”.
2. Choose “Report Changes” from the PSAP menu to display a “Confirm” dialog to
make sure you want to create a ZIP archive of changes that can be sent to the Census
Bureau.
3. Click “Yes”. If there are no changes to report, PSAP MTPS displays a message.
Click “OK”.
Otherwise, within the specific county folder (named with the state-county FIPS code)
in the MTPSData folder, PSAP MTPS creates a ZIP archive called
PSAP_SSCCC__Return.zip where SSCCC is the state (SS) and county (CCC) FIPS
code and displays a message with the path to the archive. Click “OK” to close the
message.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

6.3 Review Your PSAP Changes Using the PSAP MTPS
1. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the folder c:\MTPSData\[SSCCC] and open
PSAP_SSCCC_Return.zip where SSCCC is the state (SS) and county (CCC) FIPS
code.
2. Extract all of the files into a folder, such as c:\Temp.
on the Standard toolbar, choose
3. Choose File: Open or click the “Open File” icon
ESRI Shapefile from the “Files of Type” drop down list, navigate to the folder where
you extracted the Shapefiles, choose the Shapefile(s) you would like to view, and
click “Open” to display the ESRI “Shapefile” dialog box.
4. Click “OK” to display a map with the Shapefile. You can return to Step 3 to open
another Shapefile, or you can add one or more Shapefiles to the map by doing the
following:
(1) Choose “Map: Layers" or click the “Map Layer” icon
dialog box

to display the “Layers”

(2) Choose ESRI Shapefile from the “Files of Type” drop down list
(3) Highlight one or more Shapefiles
(4) Click “Open” to display the “ESRI Shapefile” dialog box
(5) Click “OK” for each Shapefile; PSAP MTPS returns to the “Layers” dialog box
(6) Highlight each added Shapefile, clicking “Style”, and choosing a different border
color
(7) Click “Close”; PSAP MTPS displays the map with the added layers

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

6.4

Submit Your PSAP Changes ZIP File to the Census Bureau
Contact your RCC if you review your county or counties and determine that no updates
are required for one or more of your counties, or no updates are required for one or more
of the statistical areas within the county, e.g., CT and BG edits will be submitted to the
Census Bureau but there will be no CDP changes/submission (all CDPs in the county
should remain for 2010 unchanged). The RCC will then know not to expect a
submission for those counties/areas.

1. How to FTP a Completed File
(1) Upload your files using the Census Bureau’s Send a File Utility at:
http://www2.census.gov/cgi-bin/sendfile.
(2) Copy and paste the above URL into the browser address bar or use these following
steps to access the utility:
(3) Type www.census.gov in your browser address bar;
(4) Click on Data Tools in the dark blue column on the left-hand side of the screen;
(5) Scroll down to the bottom of the Data Access Tools page;
(6) Click on the Public file send utility link.
2. Use the following steps to FTP your completed files:
(1) In the Source Information (Local) section, click on the Browse button to navigate to
the completed file that is to be submitted.
(2) Select the file from the Choose file window by clicking on it. Click Open. The File
to Send field now contains the file name. Note: Only one file can be sent at a time.
(3) In the Target Information (Remote) section, enter /geo/2010_PSAP_TSAP/Name
of RCC/ in the Directory to Receive File, where Name of RCC/ = your appropriate RCC.
Choose Name of RCC/ from following list:
Atlanta_RCC/

Detroit_RCC/

Boston_RCC/

KansasCity_RCC/

Charlotte_RCC/

LosAngeles_RCC/

Chicago_RCC/

NewYork_RCC/

Dallas_RCC/

Philadelphia_RCC/

Denver_RCC/

Seattle_RCC/

If you’re not sure which RCC you should choose, refer to Appendix A – Regional Census
Center (RCC) contact information.
(4) No entry should be made in the New File Name field.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

(5) Under Notify by E-mail, type your e-mail address in the Sender’s Email Address
field. In the Census Bureau Employee’s E-Mail Address field, enter
geo.psap.list@census.gov.
(6) We are asking you to please send a second e-mail to geo.psap.list@census.gov using
your regular e-mail account, to notify us when you have submitted files.
(7) The last thing you need to do is type in the Verification Code that you see (or hear) in
the field below the code.
(8) After filling in all the fields correctly, click on the Upload button. If you find an error,
click the Clear button and start the process again from the beginning.
Important Note!! If you must resubmit a file for any reason, you must rename the file.
If not, the utility will produce an error message. Please retain the default naming
convention of PSAP_SSCCC_Return.zip when you rename it.
Here are examples for re-naming a file:
PSAP_42027_Return_revised.zip
PSAP_36001_Return_Return_2.zip

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Appendix A – Regional Census Center (RCC) contact information
Atlanta RCC: Geography
285 Peachtree Center Avenue NE
Marquis II Tower, Suite 1000
Atlanta, GA 30303-1230
Phone: (404) 332-2711
Fax: (404) 331-1570
E-mail: atlanta.geography@census.gov

Detroit RCC: Geography
300 River Place Drive, Suite 2950
Detroit, MI 48207
Phone: (313) 396-5002
Fax: (313) 879-2933
E-mail: detroit.geography@census.gov

Boston RCC: Geography
One Beacon Street, 7th Floor
Boston, MA 02108-3107
Phone: (617) 223-3600
Fax: (617) 223-3675
E-mail: boston.geography@census.gov

Kansas City RCC: Geography
2001 NE 46th Street, Suite LL100
Kansas City, MO 64116-2051
Phone: (816) 994-2020
Fax: (816) 298-9614
E-mail: kansas.city.geography@census.gov

Charlotte RCC: Geography
3701 Arco Corporate Drive, Suite 250
Charlotte, NC 28273
Phone: (704) 936-4200
Fax: (704) 936-4225
E-mail: charlotte.geography@census.gov

Los Angeles RCC: Geography
9301 Corbin Avenue, Suite 1000
Northridge, CA 91324-2406
Phone: (818) 717-6701
Fax: (818) 435-6314
E-mail: los.angeles.geography@census.gov

Chicago RCC: Geography
500 West Madison Street, Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60661-4555
Phone: (312) 454-2705
Fax: (312) 488-1510
E-mail: chicago.geography@census.gov

New York RCC: Geography
330 West 34th Street, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10001-2406
Phone: (212) 971-8800
Fax: (212) 233-2410
E-mail: new.york.rcc.geography@census.gov

Dallas RCC: Geography
2777 N Stemmons Freeway, Suite 200
Dallas, TX 75207-9950
Phone: (214) 267-6920
Fax: (214) 267-6970
E-mail: dallas.geography@census.gov

Philadelphia RCC: Geography
1234 Market Street, Suite 340
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3780
Phone: (215) 717-1000
Fax: (215) 253-8001
E-mail: philadelphia.geography@census.gov

Denver RCC: Geography
6950 W Jefferson Avenue, Suite 250
Lakewood, CO 80235-2032
Phone: (720) 475-3600
Fax: (720) 897-6415
E-mail: denver.rcc.geography@census.gov

Seattle RCC: Geography
19820 North Creek Parkway N, Suite 100
Bothell, WA 98011
Phone: (425) 908-3010
Fax: (425) 908-3020
E-mail: seattle.geography@census.gov

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Appendix B - Important information about updating streets as part of
Census 2010 Geographic Area Programs
The Census Bureau has spent the last 6 years improving the spatial accuracy of the roads
in our MAF/TIGER system (Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic
Encoding and Referencing system). Many of you have heard the Census Bureau staff
talk about this work. Many organizations throughout the country who maintain
geographic information in digital form have worked with us on this project.
This notice is to inform you that at this point, the Census Bureau is moving forward with
our Census 2010 field canvassing and collection activities. This means that we are no
longer processing widespread spatial corrections to our street network. What is critical
for the success of Census 2010 data tabulation is the location of roads relative to the
tabulation statistical area boundary. As long as the road is within the correct statistical
area, the population and housing will be properly reported. The guidelines below explain
what we can accept as part of our geographic area delineation programs (including the
Redistricting Data Program-Phase 2, the Participant Statistical Areas Program, and the
Tribal Statistical Areas Program.) This document supplements the detailed criteria and
guidelines provided for each of these programs.
It is critical that participants understand that the programs offered to review and delineate
boundaries are not intended for street feature update except where a boundary follows a
road (or other visible feature such as a stream) and the road is not reflected in our file.
For this reason the Census Bureau can not accept street (or other) feature updates that do
not follow the guidelines below.
Street Update Do’s:
If a road is missing and it forms the boundary for the area you are defining, add
the road and provide the name.

If you can not correctly delineate the boundary for a statistical area you are
updating because the feature you need to follow is incorrectly located, mislabeled
or distorted in the Census Bureau’s file, we request that you put the boundary on
the problematic feature in our file. This will establish for us what feature you
want the boundary to follow. In addition, we request that you report the problem
area to the Census Bureau (through your regional office contact) by sending
information describing the incorrect feature including the TIGER Line Identifier
(TLID) and the specific statistical area boundary affected. This can be done using
email with information to describe the problem such as an image file, PDF or
other medium showing the appropriate correction.

Street Update Don’ts
Do not realign street features by merging your roads into our spatial file and
flagging your roads as adds and our roads as deletes.

Do not add streets that are missing for an entire housing development (add only
streets that are needed to form a boundary). We will be adding new or missing
streets during our address canvassing operation which will occur in the spring and
early summer of 2009. We recommend that you flag these missing streets in your

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

geographic information system’s file. The Census Bureau will provide
verification materials for each project that will show the results of address
canvassing. If these streets are still missing at that time, we will accept these as
adds.
Do not delete streets for the same reasons described above.

The Census Bureau staff will contact you if they require more information or have
questions about feature updates submitted as part of our 2010 geographic programs.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Appendix C – Reset a Single County
In extreme cases where the files become corrupted for an individual county, it may
become necessary to reset that county's data. The following instructions explain how to
perform this operation.
1. Navigate to the main data folder for your state.
2. Identify the corrupted county's sub-folder by the state county FIPS code.
3. Delete the corrupted county's sub-folder.
4. Launch the MAF/TIGER Partnership software (MTPS).
5. Use the PSAP pull down menu and use the Pick a County function to select the
county you just deleted.
Note: It is extremely important that you use the Pick a County function. If you use
the Open function at this stage you will corrupt the data for all counties in your
PSAP coverage.
6. Allow the county to import.
7. Once the county has completely imported, use the PSAP pull down to select the
Open command.
8. You can now work in your county as needed.

PSAP MTPS Version 4.6 User Guide

Census 2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program

Program Guidelines for all Participants

Version 1
October 2008

Table of Contents
Overview............................................................................................................................. 4
1. General Information.................................................................................................... 7
1.1 Eligibility .................................................................................................................. 7
1.2 Participation by Interested Parties Locally ............................................................... 8
1.3 Materials Provided by the Census Bureau ................................................................ 8
1.4 Materials Needed by the Participant ....................................................................... 10
1.5 Deadline for Submitting PSAP Proposals............................................................... 10
2. Statistical Area Boundary Feature Criteria .................................................................. 12
2.1 Acceptable Features ................................................................................................ 12
2.2 Questionable Boundary Features ............................................................................ 15
2.3 Unacceptable Boundary Features ........................................................................... 18
2.4 Boundary Feature Updates..................................................................................... 19
3. Census Tracts ............................................................................................................... 21
3.1 Census Tract Coverage ........................................................................................... 21
3.2 Census Tract Criteria .............................................................................................. 22
3.2.1 Population, Housing Units, and Area .............................................................. 22
3.2.2 Census Tract Types.......................................................................................... 24
3.2.3 Comparability (redefining census tracts) ......................................................... 29
3.2.4 Census Tract Identifiers (Codes/Numbers)...................................................... 31
3.2.5 Census Tract Boundary Features ..................................................................... 33
3.3 Reviewing and Revising Existing Census Tracts ................................................... 33
3.3.1 Census Tracts Below Minimum Thresholds (Merging) .................................. 35
3.3.2 Census Tracts Above Maximum Thresholds (Splitting) ................................. 37
3.3.3 Editing Census Tracts that Fail the Shape Index Threshold
(Split/Merge/Boundary Changes) ............................................................................. 37
3.3.4 Editing Census Tract Boundaries (Boundary Changes) .................................. 37
3.4 Census Tracts on Federally Recognized American Indian Reservations and OffReservation Trust Lands ............................................................................................... 39
4. Block Groups ................................................................................................................ 41
4.1 Block Group Coverage ........................................................................................... 41
4.2 Block Group Criteria............................................................................................... 41
4.2.1 Population, Housing Units, and Area .............................................................. 42
4.2.2 Block Group Types .......................................................................................... 43
4.2.3 Comparability .................................................................................................. 44
4.2.4 Block Group Identifiers (Codes/Numbers)...................................................... 45
4.2.5 Block Group Boundary Features ..................................................................... 47
4.3 Reviewing and Revising Existing Block Groups.................................................... 47
4.3.1 Block Groups Below Minimum Thresholds (Merging and Boundary Changes)
................................................................................................................................... 48
4.3.2 Block Groups Above Maximum Thresholds (Splitting and Boundary Changes)
................................................................................................................................... 51
4.3.3 Block Groups that Fail the Shape Index Threshold (Split, Merge, Boundary
Change) ..................................................................................................................... 53
4.3.4 Editing Block Group Boundaries (Boundary Changes)................................... 53
2

4.4 Block Groups on Federally Recognized American Indian Reservations and OffReservation Trust Lands ............................................................................................... 53
5. Census Designated Places (CDPs)................................................................................ 55
5.1 CDP Coverage ........................................................................................................ 55
5.2 CDP Criteria............................................................................................................ 55
5.2.1 Population and Housing Units ......................................................................... 55
5.2.2 CDP Identifiers (Names).................................................................................. 56
5.2.3 CDP Boundary Features .................................................................................. 57
5.3 Reviewing and Revising Existing CDPs and Adding New CDPs.......................... 59
5.3.1 Editing CDP Boundaries/Area......................................................................... 60
5.3.2 Revising CDP Names ...................................................................................... 63
5.4 CDPs on Federally Recognized American Indian Reservations and Off-Reservation
Trust Lands ................................................................................................................... 64
5.5 Geographic Relationship Between CDPs and Legal Entities ................................. 64
5.6 CDPs in Puerto Rico ............................................................................................... 65
6. Census County Divisions (CCDs) ................................................................................ 66
6. Census County Divisions (CCDs) ................................................................................ 66
6.1 CCD Coverage ........................................................................................................ 66
6.2 CCD Criteria ........................................................................................................... 67
6.2.1 Population and Housing Units ......................................................................... 67
6.2.2 Comparability .................................................................................................. 67
6.2.3 CCD Identifiers (Names) ................................................................................. 67
6.2.4 CCD Boundary Features .................................................................................. 70
6.3 Reviewing and Revising Existing CCDs ................................................................ 70
6.4 CCDs on Federally Recognized American Indian Reservations and OffReservation Trust Lands ............................................................................................... 73
7. Review and Approval of the Proposed Census 2010 Statistical Areas by the Census
Bureau ............................................................................................................................... 74
Appendix A – PSAP Glossary .......................................................................................... 76
Appendix B – Regional Census Center contact information ............................................ 78
Appendix C – Statistical Areas History ............................................................................ 79

OMB No. 0607-0795: Approval Expires 03/31/09

Overview
The 2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) allows participants, following
U.S. Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) guidelines and criteria, to review, update,
and delineate new census tracts (CTs), block groups (BGs), census designated places
(CDPs) 1 , and census county divisions (CCDs) 2 . The goal of the PSAP is to define
meaningful, relevant CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs so that data users can obtain
meaningful, relevant small area and place-level statistical data. The updated boundaries
for CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs frame all Census 2010 tabulations, and will be used for
the American Community Survey (ACS) 3 beyond 2010 4 . Data tabulated to these PSAP
statistical areas are used for planning and funding purposes by various local, state, and
federal agencies and organizations, as well as the private sector, academia, and the
public. The review and update of the statistical areas is conducted through the PSAP
MAF/TIGER (Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and
Referencing System) Partnership Software (PSAP MTPS), which is new software
developed solely for the purpose of review, update, and submission of Census Bureau
statistical areas.
It is very important that you read these program guidelines and the 2010 Participant
Statistical Areas Program MAF/TIGER Partnership Software (MTPS) Version 4.6
User Guide (PSAP MTPS User Guide) in their entirety before attempting any
updates in the PSAP MTPS. The two documents together provide the information
needed to create a successful statistical areas submission.
These program guidelines contain an overview of the CT, BG, CDP, and CCD concepts
and criteria, as well as information about the program, including:
General information about the 2010 PSAP (including a PSAP Glossary in
Appendix A)
Acceptable boundary features for CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs
Separate chapters for CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs, including coverage, criteria,
and review and update information
The 2010 PSAP plan submission, review, and approval process
The PSAP MTPS User Guide contains information about using the PSAP MTPS to
review and update CTs, BGs, CDPs and CCDs, as well as how to create a final
submission, including:
1

The term CDP includes comunidades and zonas urbanas in Puerto Rico.
CCDs are only present in: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia,
Hawaii , Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas,
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. CCDs will only be reviewed and updated as part of the PSAP in these
states. In Alaska, census subareas are equivalents of CCDs. For Census 2010 and beyond, Tennessee will
have MCDs (following county commissioner districts) instead of CCDs.
3
The ACS is conducted in the United States and in Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico the survey is called the
Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS). Throughout this document the term ACS is used to represent
both the ACS and the PRCS. Additional information about the ACS can be found at:

4
The 2009 ACS data will be tabulated to the 2000 geography and is currently scheduled to be published in
2010. The 2010 ACS data will be tabulated to the 2010 geography and will be published in 2011.
2

Installation instructions, computer-based training (CBT), and other helpful
information
Menu and tool descriptions and usage instructions
Instructions on how to successfully review and update Census 2000 statistical
areas to create a complete 2010 statistical area submission
Instructions on how to import external GIS files, including imagery
Description of the verification and report changes functionalities

These PSAP guidelines apply to the United States 5 , and includes federally recognized
American Indian reservations (AIR) and off-reservation trust lands (ORTL), Puerto Rico,
and the Island Areas 6 .
The Census Bureau appreciates your agreement to work on the 2010 PSAP and looks
forward to working with you to help make Census 2010 a success. The knowledge
provided by our local partners allows the Census Bureau to meet many of the statistical
and spatial data needs that are part of the agency’s mission: to be the statistical source for
a better understanding of our Nation.
Disclosures to respondents
The Geography Division manages programs to continuously update features, boundaries,
addresses, and geographic entities in the Master Address File / Topologically Integrated
Geographic Encoding and Referencing System (MAF/TIGER) database (MTdb) that is
used to support programs and to conduct the census and surveys. The PSAP program
was developed to give local governments and regional planning agencies the opportunity
to review, and update if necessary, statistical geographic areas for use in tabulating and
publishing data from the 2010 Census, the American Community Survey, and other
surveys.
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 48 hours
per respondent, including time for reviewing instructions, assembling materials,
organizing and reviewing the information, and reporting any needed changes. We
anticipate that not all 3,234 counties will be updated by participants so that the remaining
counties, estimated to be about 160 counties, will most likely be worked by Census
Bureau regional staff. For larger geographic areas or areas with many changes, however,
burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including
suggestions for reducing this burden to:
Paperwork Project
0607-0795
U.S. Census Bureau
4600 Silver Hill Road
Room 3K138
5

For Census Bureau purposes, the United States includes the fifty states and the District of Columbia.
For Census Bureau purposes, the Island Areas includes American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands. The U.S.
Minor Outlying Islands is an aggregation of nine U.S. territories: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis
Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island.

Washington, D.C. 20233
You may e-mail comments to Paperwork@census.gov. Use “Paperwork Project 06070795” as the subject.
Responses to this survey are voluntary. The authority for conducting these activities is
covered under the legal authority of Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 141 and 193.
No agency may conduct and no person may be required to respond to a collection of
information unless it displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval
number. The OMB approval number for this information collection is 0607-0795.

1. General Information
The Census Bureau will provide assistance by answering questions; clarifying criteria,
guidelines, and procedures; and providing information concerning specific situations that
participants encounter when reviewing, delineating, and submitting their statistical area
plans. Our responsibility is to ensure a nationwide uniformity in applying the statistical
area criteria and guidelines. As part of our job, we may require some changes in the
boundaries or delineation of some statistical areas to meet a national standard.
The Census Bureau establishes and maintains CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs solely for
statistical purposes and does not take into account or attempt to anticipate any nonstatistical uses that may be made of their definitions; the statistical areas are not designed
to meet the requirements of any non-statistical programs 7 . The Census Bureau will not
modify the criteria of the statistical areas to meet the requirements of any non-statistical
program, or accept as justification for an exception to or exemption from the statistical
areas criteria, the use of these areas in any non-statistical program.

1.1 Eligibility
In early 2008 the Census Bureau contacted local organizations and governments to solicit
their participation in the review and update of statistical areas for Census 2010. The
organizations and governments included Census 2000 PSAP participants, regional multicounty organizations (i.e., councils of government, metropolitan planning organizations
and other regional organizations), local government agencies (i.e., county government
representatives, city government representatives), census state data centers and other
state-level organizations, and committees of interested organizations/individuals.
After the Census Bureau determined an organization’s interest in participating in the
2010 PSAP as the PSAP primary participant, or lead agency, each primary participant
agreed to coordinate the 2010 PSAP review and update for one or more counties or
equivalent entities 8 . If participants have any questions about the extent of their 2010
PSAP county or counties, or the county or counties they agreed to cover for the 2010
PSAP, please contact your Census Bureau Regional Census Center (RCC) staff. Refer to
Appendix B for RCC contact information.

Non-statistical uses include any use other than presenting or analyzing statistical data from the decennial
censuses, the ACS, or other Census Bureau censuses or surveys. Examples of modifying statistical areas to
meet non-statistical program uses include where a participant changes a CT to meet a specific qualifying
median income, or where a participant edits the CT to move a shopping center from one CT to another to
meet non-statistical programmatic needs.
8
For Census Bureau purposes, the term “county” includes parishes in Louisiana; boroughs, city and
boroughs, municipalities, and census areas in Alaska; independent cities in Maryland, Missouri, Nevada,
and Virginia; districts and islands in American Samoa, and districts in the U.S. Virgin Islands;
municipalities in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; municipios in Puerto Rico; and the
areas constituting the District of Columbia and Guam. Henceforth in this document the term “counties”
will refer to all of these entities.

1.2 Participation by Interested Parties Locally
The Census Bureau intends for the PSAP to be a process open to all interested parties.
The PSAP primary participant must ensure that the process of reviewing Census 2010
statistical areas is open to all individuals and agencies interested in participating. The
PSAP primary participant should publicize the process by making the proposed statistical
areas available for review by interested data users, or by inviting individuals and agencies
to a meeting where the statistical areas proposal is discussed. At a minimum, the
delineation of the statistical areas should involve several individuals who represent more
than one organization. At its discretion the Census Bureau will determine whether or not
the process was indeed open to all and that the needs of data users were met. At the time
of its submission, the statistical areas must represent the best collective judgment of the
local organizations and data users.
The Census Bureau is aware that at times there are conflicting needs or requirements and
that it is not always possible to reach a clear consensus. To assist the Census Bureau in
situations where a data user alleges the process was not open or objects to the final
proposed PSAP submission for their area, we suggest that the PSAP primary participant
maintain documentation such as the names/agencies of those invited to meetings, who
attended, what was discussed and the outcome, copies of newspaper articles, email
distributions (e.g., listserv), or other means used to publicize the process, a sign-up sheet
of those reviewing the update proposal and their comments, and any other documentation
that the participant believes would demonstrate that the delineation of Census 2010
statistical areas was an open process and why a particular outcome was decided.
The Census Bureau will, as necessary, ensure that individuals and agencies are not
excluded from participating in the process. In the event that the Census Bureau learns that
the delineation of Census 2010 statistical areas was not an open process, the Census
Bureau reserves the right to make changes to CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs to ensure that
these areas meet the needs of local data users excluded from the process.
In areas where the Census Bureau cannot identify interested participants, census staff will
review and update statistical areas to meet the 2010 PSAP criteria and guidelines.

1.3 Materials Provided by the Census Bureau
The Census Bureau is providing Census 2010 PSAP participants the following materials:
1. PSAP MTPS software (CD)
The PSAP MTPS will flag all statistical areas that should be edited (i.e., do
not meet the 2010 PSAP criteria and guidelines) and provide all the tools
necessary to edit those areas and submit the 2010 PSAP plan
The PSAP MTPS contains a CBT 9 (of which the first three sections on
general skills and the PSAP section should be reviewed before you begin
work with the PSAP MTPS) and a help section
9

The PSAP MTPS CBT is also available on the Census Bureau's PSAP website:

The delineation software must be used to review the Census Bureau's current
statistical areas in the county or counties you agreed to work, delineate
changes to the statistical area boundaries, and review your plan for
compliance with 2010 PSAP criteria and guidelines, prior to submission

2. PSAP data disc(s) (CD or DVD)
Detailed guidelines with criteria for delineating the statistical areas (these
PSAP program guidelines) and PSAP MTPS use (the PSAP MTPS User
Guide)
Shapefiles derived from the Census Bureau’s MAF/TIGER database for the
county/counties the primary participant agreed to cover for the 2010 PSAP
Reference information, including Census 2000 population and housing unit
counts for all statistical areas 10
Readme.txt containing a complete list of materials that you will receive
The RCC staff will offer PSAP MTPS training to those participants who desire
training. Please contact your RCC to request training if you haven’t already
discussed training with them.
Participants must use the Census Bureau supplied Census 2010 shapefiles and the
PSAP MTPS software in the update of 2010 statistical areas. Given the large number
of organizations participating in the 2010 PSAP, the geographic information system
(GIS) materials used to update the statistical areas must be standardized. Consequently,
to ensure that all incoming 2010 statistical area proposals conform to the criteria, the
Census Bureau built several tools and edits into the PSAP MTPS to make the update
process of all Census 2010 statistical areas by participants an accurate one.
The Census Bureau will not accept or attempt to use any submissions based on nonCensus Bureau provided shapefiles or submissions delineated outside of the PSAP MTPS
even if formatted to look as if the PSAP MTPS generated them.
The Census Bureau will only accept one submission for each county containing all of
the statistical area edits for the county. Portions of a county’s statistical area
submission cannot be merged together. Where more than one technical participant is
editing the statistical areas within the county, each individual participant must update the
same shapefiles for the county (i.e., one participant may update the statistical area plan
for the county, and once their work is completed they must share their updated shapefiles
with the other participant conducting the update).

In addition to being provided for the statistical areas, 2000 population and housing unit counts are also
provided down to the face (or individual polygon) level. When the participant edits the statistical areas the
PSAP MTPS tallies the Census 2000 population and housing unit counts for the selected areas, and
therefore the participant can easily assess when thresholds have been met.

The Census Bureau provides the PSAP MTPS free of charge to PSAP participants. One
copy of the PSAP MTPS and data disc(s) will be provided to the primary participant.
Participants may make copies of the PSAP MTPS and PSAP data disc(s) for respective
offices or participants performing the review and update of the statistical areas. Should
you need additional copies of the PSAP MTPS and data disc(s) contact your RCC.
In addition to being provided on the PSAP data discs, these PSAP program guidelines
and the PSAP MTPS User Guide will be available online and printed, upon request, from
your RCC.

1.4 Materials Needed by the Participant
The most important element a local participant brings to the PSAP is the wealth of local
knowledge needed to delineate areas that best meet local needs and development patterns.
Access to a computer with a Microsoft Windows-based operating system (98, 2000, ME,
NT, XP or Vista) 11 , CD reading ability, and internet access is also necessary. Should you
not have access to these technologies contact your RCC. Refer to Appendix B for RCC
contact information.
Beyond the minimum requirements, there are some other digital or print materials
participants may wish to gather for the review and update of statistical areas. These
include:
Relevant and current GIS files, imagery, and/or maps for your area
Special Census counts if applicable
Current small-area estimates 12 of population or housing units
Thematic materials, such as zoning maps or other land-use data, socioeconomic
data, topographic maps, and city directories, which may prove useful in detailed
analysis
The PSAP MTPS can import a wide-range of GIS files, imagery, and other types of
digital information for use as a backdrop reference. Using reference information in the
PSAP MTPS will enable participants to review and update statistical areas more
accurately and quickly. The PSAP MTPS also contains a tool that imports TerraServer
imagery via the internet.

1.5 Deadline for Submitting PSAP Proposals
The deadline for submitting all statistical areas plans for CTs, BGs, CDPs, and
CCDs is 120 calendar days from the receipt of the materials provided by the Census
Bureau. To ensure that related geographic preparations for Census 2010 proceed in a
11

Windows XP is the ideal operating system for the PSAP MTPS. Additionally, the PC should have 1 GB
of RAM to run the PSAP MTPS, and the software will operate better with more RAM and hard disk
storage available on the computer.
12
Census 2000 population and housing unit counts are available in the PSAP MTPS. The Census Bureau
publishes population estimates for counties, incorporated places, and MCDs in 20 states (available at:
http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php), but does not produce annual estimates for tracts and block
groups.

timely manner, the Census Bureau needs to receive all submissions within this time
frame.
For those PSAP primary participants covering more than one county, the Census Bureau
requests that participants review, update, and submit statistical areas for one county
within 60 calendar days so that the Census Bureau can review the submission to ensure
participants are successful in implementing the PSAP criteria and guidelines, using the
PSAP MTPS to review and edit statistical areas, and generating proposed statistical area
submissions. The Census Bureau will provide feedback to the participant on their
submission, and if necessary provide additional guidance on the criteria and guidelines
and/or PSAP MTPS usage. Should you not be able to meet this request contact your
RCC.
Before a participant begins to review and update statistical areas for final submission, the
Census Bureau strongly recommends participants become familiar with the work flow
and functionalities of the PSAP MTPS by making edits to the CT, BG, CDP, and CCD
layer for a county. Once comfortable with the PSAP MTPS, reinstall the original data for
the county (undoing all editing) so that work on the final submission can commence.
Contact your RCC if you review your county or counties and determine that no updates
are required for one or more of your counties, or no updates are required for one or more
of the statistical areas within the county, e.g., CT and BG edits will be submitted to the
Census Bureau but there will be no CDP changes/submission (all CDPs in the county
should remain for 2010 unchanged).

2. Statistical Area Boundary Feature Criteria
For Census 2010 PSAP the Census Bureau defines three boundary feature classifications
for CT, BG, CDP, and CCD boundaries: acceptable, questionable, and not acceptable.
Acceptable features are generally features that do not change greatly over time, including
some legal and administrative boundaries and visible physical features. Questionable
features are physical features that are not always clearly visible on the ground. All other
features are not acceptable boundary features.
Wherever possible, CTs, BGs, CDPs, and CCDs should follow acceptable boundary
features. CDP boundaries may follow questionable and even not acceptable features in
instances where reliance upon acceptable features will result in greatly overbounding the
CDP (i.e., encompassing area not associated with the place).
The acceptance of any questionable or not acceptable features as statistical area
boundaries is at the discretion of the Census Bureau. Contact your RCC if you have
questions or comments about the acceptability of specific boundary features.
In the PSAP MTPS features are classified by their feature type name and MAF/TIGER
Feature Class Code (MTFCC), and are also classified as acceptable, questionable and not
acceptable (ineligible). Using the provided TerraServer imagery in the PSAP MTPS may
help participants in choosing appropriate statistical area boundaries.

2.1 Acceptable Features
Statistical area boundaries should follow specified legal or administrative boundaries that
do not change greatly over time, or permanent, visible features, such as roads, perennial
streams, railroads, and high-tension power lines.
Legal and administrative boundaries
State and county boundaries must be used as the boundaries for CTs, BGs, and CCDs.
State and county boundaries may be used as CDP boundaries, and CDPs can cross county
boundaries but not state boundaries.
The following boundaries may be used as the boundaries for all statistical areas:
AIR and ORTL boundaries, especially conjoint 13 boundaries shared by two
different AIRs/ORTLs
Alaska Native regional corporation (ANRC) boundaries in Alaska
Minor civil divisions (MCDs) and sub-MCDs in Puerto Rico
MCDs in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands
MCDs and/or incorporated place boundaries as indicated in Table 1

Conjoint – boundaries shared by two different incorporated places

Table 1 - MCD and incorporated place boundaries acceptable for use as statistical area boundaries:
States
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

MCDs and
incorporated places

MCDs not coincident with the
boundaries of incorporated places that
themselves are MCDs

Only conjoint
incorporated places
X
X
X
X
X
X

Xa
Xc
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
Xb
Xa

X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X

townships only
governmental townships only
c
MCD boundaries only (not incorporated place boundaries)
b

Note that in the PSAP MTPS all non-visible boundaries are classified as not acceptable
even those considered to be acceptable (as described in this section) as a result of a
inconsistency in the software. Please verify that the non-visible feature (P0001) used as a
statistical area boundary is an acceptable legal or administrative boundary before
submitting your statistical area plan.
13

Visible features
Permanent visible features should be easily locatable in the field without ambiguity.
The acceptable visible boundary features are:
Levee
Dam
Stream/River (perennial)
Canal, Ditch or Aqueduct
(perennial)
Pier/Dock
Runway/Taxiway
Pipeline (above ground)
Power line (above ground, hightension)
Aerial Tramway/Ski Lift
Natural topographic featuresa
Cliff/Escarpment
Perennial shoreline
Railroad Features (main)

Carline, Streetcar Track,
Monorail, Other Mass Transit
Rail
Interstate Highway or Primary
road with limited access
Primary Road without limited
access, US Highway, State
Highway or County Highway,
Secondary and connecting roads
Local Neighborhood Road, Rural
Road, City Street
Service Drive (usually along a
limited access highway)
Alley

Natural topographic features include the crests of well-defined mountain ridges; the rims or bases of
sharply defined escarpments, cliffs, or bluffs; the position of dry ravines or arroyos

To be used as a statistical area boundary the boundary features must connect, forming a
continuous boundary. Some acceptable boundary features will not connect to other
features and will require the use of feature extensions or lines-of-sight to connect them.
Data user and Census Bureau experience have shown that some features make better
boundaries than others, and the same type of feature can make an excellent boundary in
one place and a poor one in another. Rivers, major canals, lakes, and other bodies of
water often make good statistical area boundaries because they generally limit access
from one area to another and rarely change relative location. Other features that limit
access between areas, such as interstate and other major highways, railroad tracks, and
the ridges of mountain ranges, also make good statistical area boundaries. In some
instances, however, such a feature unifies a community, for example, a lake forming the
core of a recreational housing development or a through street forming the spine of a
subdivision. In these circumstances, the statistical area boundary should include the entire
area of the lake or both sides of a unifying street to better encompass similar community
patterns.
In general, when delineating boundaries in water features having area (represented as
polygons), such as lakes, reservoirs, bays, oceans, or wide rivers, the boundary should
follow a line bisecting the water body rather than following a shoreline. If possible, use
an existing line in the water (for example, a city limit in the middle of a river) rather than
adding a new line. Based on PSAP MTPS snapping tolerances, the water feature should
be more than 50 feet wide (across) to add a new line bisecting the water feature, or a
water feature centerline. If the water feature is too narrow to insert a centerline (fewer
14

than 50 feet wide), choose one shoreline and use that shoreline as your boundary feature
consistently in your statistical areas delineation.
However, the boundaries of CTs delineated to encompass only water (water CTs) should
follow non-visible features inserted in the water parallel to the shoreline of the water
body (coded P0002 in the PSAP MTPS). Refer to section 3.2.2 (Census Tract Types) for
information about water CTs.
Figure 1: When using a river or other relatively small area water feature as a statistical area boundary, the
centerline should be used rather than one of the shorelines. If a centerline does not exist in the area water
feature that is being used as a statistical area boundary and that feature is at least 50 feet wide, the
participant can try to create a centerline. If the area water feature is less than 50 feet wide or the
participant does not have the time to add the centerline, the participant should use one or the other
shoreline as the statistical area boundary. The boundary should not switch from one shoreline to the
other along the area water feature.

Special land use CTs should follow the boundary of the targeted special land use (e.g.,
airport, public forest). Refer to section 3.2.2 (Census Tract Types) for information about
special land use CT.

2.2 Questionable Boundary Features
There are some instances where no acceptable legal/administrative features or visible
feature exist that can adequately serve as a statistical area boundary. In such cases, the
Census Bureau allows for the use of nonstandard, or questionable, boundary features that
may or may not always be visible. Participants may continue to use or propose new
statistical area boundaries following such features, but the Census Bureau requests that

participants review these features to confirm their existence and that the features are
correctly shown in Census Bureau shapefiles.
Nonstandard or questionable boundary features
Stream/River (intermittent)
Canal, Ditch, or Aqueduct
(intermittent)
Ferry crossing
Fence Line
Property/Parcel Line (airport,
airfield, military installation,
PLSS, or other)
Intermittent Shoreline
Railroad features (secondary or
spur track)

Vehicular Trail (4WD)
Walkway/Pedestrian Trail
Stairway
Private Road for service vehicles
(logging, oil fields, ranches, etc.)
Private Driveway
Parking Lot Road
Bike Path or Trail
Horse Trail/Bridle Path

Feature extensions and lines-of-sight
Statistical area boundaries also may follow lines-of-sight or convenience when no other
feature is available to better enclose an area, provided the boundary does not intersect any
building and is locatable in the field. The feature under consideration for extension as a
line-of-sight must have a specific visible ending point and a clearly locatable starting
point. Feature extensions and lines-of-sight with ambiguous start and/or end points may
be used only in areas where there are no housing units. Features extensions should be
coded P0004 in the PSAP MTPS, and if possible, should not extend more than 300 feet.
Feature extensions and lines-of-sight used as statistical area boundaries will be approved
or rejected by the Census Bureau on a case-by-case basis.
All extensions must terminate at visible features and consist of a straight line projecting
at an angle close to 180 degrees from the end point of a feature. Point-to-point lines must
be clear lines-of-sight without any intervening addressable features and are only
recommended in very sparsely settled areas.
Acceptable non-visible lines include:
Short feature extensions from the end point of a visible feature to a non-road
feature or, at the discretion of the Census Bureau, to an addressed road feature
where a participant provides address break information (Extensions are not
acceptable when used off the end of cul-de-sacs.)
Short feature extensions from the end of a road or T-intersection to railroads
and/or water bodies
Short feature extensions from a shoreline to the midpoint of water bodies
Short feature extensions connecting two non-addressable features
Short lines-of-sight beginning from one specific point and ending at another
specific point (point-to-point)
Imaginary lines through water bodies, such as lakes, rivers, or swamps

The acceptance of any nonstandard or questionable features as statistical area
boundaries is at the discretion of the Census Bureau.

Figure 2: Some non-visible line features are acceptable as statistical area boundaries. The first
acceptable non-visible boundary feature is the non-visible extension, symbolized as a "fuzzy" red line,
of a local road (Riverbend Dr.) to a water feature (Chippewa River). The second is the non-visible
centerline of the area water feature (Chippewa River), symbolized as the grey line more-or-less running
down the middle of the light blue area water feature.

Figure 3: Non-visible extensions from dead end roads, including roads ending in cul-de-sacs or circles,
should only be created and/or used as statistical area boundaries if the allocation of housing units to either
side of the extension is clear. This example shows that a non-visible extension should not be created and
used as a statistical area boundary from the road ending in a cul-de-sac (example on the left), whereas a
non-visible extension could be created and used as a statistical area boundary from the road ending in a
circle (example on the right). Non-visible extensions should only be created if they are going to be used as
the boundary of a PSAP statistical area (CT, BG, CCD, or CDP).

2.3 Unacceptable Boundary Features
The Census Bureau classifies nonstandard non-visible features as unacceptable for use as
statistical area boundaries. Examples of features the Census Bureau considers
unacceptable include superseded legal limits, township and range lines that do not
coincide with a visible feature, "paper" streets (planned streets that are not in existence or
under construction), lines-of-sight that intersect buildings or addressable features, rightof-ways, offset lines, and other lines-of-sight or non-visible features where the allocation
of housing units could be ambiguous. The classification of lines as unacceptable
statistical area boundary features is at the discretion of the Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau’s classification of a line as unacceptable does not necessarily mean
that no acceptable feature exists in that location; it simply means that the line is currently
identified in our geographic database as unacceptable. If a visible feature is present at that
location, the participant should reclassify the line feature to what it actually represents. If
no visible feature is present, the participant must edit the statistical area boundary to
follow an acceptable feature, choosing a nearby acceptable feature or adding an
acceptable feature to use as the boundary.
The acceptance of any unacceptable features as statistical area boundaries is at the
discretion of the Census Bureau.

2.4 Boundary Feature Updates
The Census Bureau has spent the last 6 years enhancing the spatial accuracy of the roads
in our MAF/TIGER system. Many organizations throughout the country that maintain
geographic information digitally have worked with us on this project. The local files
used during this project were required to have an overall average accuracy of 7.6 meters.
Some files had a better than 7.6 meters accuracy. Although much of the street network is
vastly improved, as you work with our shapefiles you may notice that in some counties
the street and boundary features look distorted. A line that should be straight may have a
noticeable kink or pointed shape. The Census Bureau is working to correct these
problems. If you need to use a feature that is distorted in our shapefile, follow the
guidelines below.
At this point, the Census Bureau is moving forward with our Census 2010 field
canvassing and collection activities. This means that we are no longer processing
widespread spatial corrections to our street network. What is critical for the success of
Census 2010 data tabulation is the location of roads relative to the tabulation entity
boundary. As long as the road is within the correct statistical area (i.e., located correctly
in relation to the tabulation area surrounding it), the population and housing will be
properly reported. The guidelines below explain what street feature updates are
acceptable as part of the PSAP.
It is critical that participants understand that the 2010 programs offered to review and
delineate boundaries are not intended for street feature updates except where a boundary
follows a road (or other visible feature such as a stream) and the road is not reflected in
our file. For this reason the Census Bureau cannot accept street (or other) feature updates
that do not follow the guidelines below.

Street Update Do’s
If a road is missing and it forms the boundary for the area you are defining, add
the road and provide the name.
If you cannot correctly delineate the boundary for an entity you are updating
because the feature you need to follow is incorrectly located, mislabeled or
distorted in the Census Bureau’s file, we request that you fix that feature only.
In addition, we request that you report the problem area to the Census Bureau
(through your RCC contact) by sending information describing the incorrect
feature including the TIGER Line Identifier (TLID) and the specific entity
boundary affected. This can be done using email by sending information to
describe the problem such as an image file, PDF or other medium showing the
appropriate correction. Refer to Appendix A for RCC contact information.
Street Update Don’ts
Do not spatially realign street features by merging your roads into our spatial
file and flagging your roads as adds and our roads as deletes.
Do not add streets that are missing, even for an entire housing development
(add only streets that are needed to form a boundary). We will be adding new
or missing streets during our address canvassing operation which will occur in
the spring and early summer of 2009. We recommend that you flag these
missing streets in your own GIS. The Census Bureau will provide verification
materials for each participant that returns their submission in the correct format
and within the allotted 120 calendar days that will show the results of address
canvassing. If these streets are still missing at that time, we will accept these
as adds.
Do not delete streets for the same reasons described above.

The Census Bureau staff will contact you if they require more information or have
questions about feature updates submitted as part of our 2010 PSAP.

3. Census Tracts
The Census Bureau is offering local data users the opportunity to review and update CTs
for use in the tabulation and presentation of data from the decennial census and the ACS
after 2010. The primary goal of the CT program is to provide a set of nationally
consistent small, statistical geographic units, with stable boundaries, that facilitate
analysis of data across time. Ideally, the boundaries of a CT remain the same between
censuses making it possible to compare statistics for the same geographic area from
decade to decade.
The Census Bureau is providing these guidelines for use by PSAP participants in the
review and update, if necessary, of existing Census 2000 CTs. This chapter, as well as
Chapter 2 (Statistical Area Boundary Feature Criteria), is for all participants reviewing
CTs.
The methods for reviewing and updating boundaries for CTs, BGs, and CCDs are
complementary. Because BGs nest within CTs, the Census Bureau suggests that
participants review both Chapters 3 (Census Tracts) and 4 (Block Groups) before
proceeding with the review and delineation of these two areas. We also recommend that
participants in states with CCDs review Chapter 6 (Census County Divisions) before
reviewing and updating census CTs. Refer to the PSAP MTPS User Guide for specific
delineation and submission instructions.
For information about the history of CTs refer to Appendix C - Statistical Areas History.

3.1 Census Tract Coverage
CTs nest within and completely cover counties nationwide (i.e., wall-to-wall coverage
nationwide).
In order to provide meaningful statistical geographic areas within AIRs and ORTLs, as
well as make meaningful and reliable data available for these areas and their populations,
PSAP participants will define Census 2010 standard (county-based) CTs nationwide.
American Indian tribes will define tribal CTs on AIRs and ORTLs through the Tribal
Statistical Areas Program (TSAP), a program designed specifically for review, update,
and delineation of tribal statistical geography. The tribal CT geography will be
maintained separately from standard CT geography. This differs from the procedure for
Census 2000 in which tribal CTs were defined by American Indian tribes within federally
recognized AIR and ORTL, and standard CTs were identified in those same areas by
superimposing county and state boundaries onto the tribal CTs. For additional
information about the TSAP refer to:
or contact your RCC.

3.2 Census Tract Criteria
The Census Bureau published the CT criteria for Census 2010 in the Federal Register,
which is available at .
The Census Bureau establishes and maintains CTs solely for statistical purposes and does
not tailor our criteria or attempt to anticipate any non-statistical uses that may be made of
their definitions. CTs are not designed to meet the requirements of any non-statistical
programs, including the programs of other government agencies.
The Census Bureau will not modify the CT criteria to meet the requirements of any nonstatistical program, or accept, as justification for an exception to or exemption from the
CT criteria, the use of these areas in any non-statistical program.
3.2.1 Population, Housing Units, and Area
Table 2 - Census 2010 Thresholds
CT type
Standard CTs
Special land use CTs

Water CTs

Threshold type
Population threshold
Housing Unit threshold
Area measurement threshold for
an urban area 14 (square miles)
Area measurement threshold
outside an urban area (square
miles)
Population threshold
Area measurement threshold
(square miles)

Optimum
4,000
1,600
None

Minimum
1,200
480
1.0

Maximum
8,000
3,200
none

None

none

Zero or very little, or within the
standard CT thresholds
None

100

none

Threshold changes for Census 2010 15
For Census 2010 the population thresholds for all populated CTs are 4,000 optimum,
1,200 minimum, and 8,000 maximum.
The sample size for the ACS is smaller than the sample from the decennial census long
form of previous censuses. As a general rule, estimates from programs providing sample
data, including the ACS, for geographic areas with smaller populations will be subject to
higher variances than comparable estimates for areas with larger populations. In addition,
the Census Bureau's disclosure rules may restrict the availability and amount of sample
14

Information about the Census Bureau’s urban area classification can be found at:
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/ua_2k.html
15
For Census 2000, the population thresholds in most areas (standard CTs) was an optimum 4,000,
minimum 1,500 and maximum 8,000; for CTs defined in American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth
of the Northern Marianas Islands the optimum was 2,500, the minimum 1,500 and maximum 8,000; for
CTs defined in AIR/ORTL the optimum was 2,500, the minimum 1,00 and maximum 8,000; and for CTs
defined in special places (e.g., military installations) was a minimum of 1,000 and no optimum or
maximum.

data published for geographic areas with small populations. Aiming to create CTs that
meet the optimal population/housing units of 4,000/1,600 and maintaining minimum
thresholds will improve the reliability and availability of data, and PSAP participants
should consider these factors when defining their CTs. Therefore, each CT must
encompass at least 1,200 people or at least 480 housing units. Any CT with a population
or housing unit count less than the minimum threshold should be merged with an adjacent
CT to form a single CT with at least 1,200 people or at least 480 housing units. Meeting
or exceeding the optimum thresholds will help improve the reliability of sample data for
CTs. The minimum threshold does not need to be met when the CT is coextensive with a
county with fewer than 1,200 people/480 housing units, is a water CT, or is a special land
use CT with no population.
With the advent of the ACS and the “continuous measurement” 16 of characteristics of the
population and housing based on a five-year average, there are some new issues to
consider in the CT criteria. The ACS is designed to produce local area data as of a 12month period estimate (or an average), whereas in the past local area data were
represented as of the April 1 Census Day. To accommodate this change, participants may
use either population or housing units in the review of CTs. Use housing unit counts
instead of population counts to accommodate seasonal communities in which residents
often are not present on the date of the decennial census, but are present at other times of
the year and for which period estimates may be reflected in the ACS. Population counts
should be used in CT review and update in most cases. Housing unit counts should be
used for seasonal communities that have no or low population on Census Day (April 1,
2010). Current (2008 or earlier), locally produced population and housing unit estimates
can and should be used when reviewing and updating CTs, especially in areas that have
experienced considerable growth since Census 2000.
Future growth may be considered, but should only be used to meet or exceed the
optimum (4,000 population/ 1,600 housing units) and should not be used to meet the
minimum threshold. Future growth projections should extend no more than 5 years from
the date of 2010 PSAP review and update (i.e., pre-2015) so that the projections are more
likely to be reliable and to best leverage ACS data. When estimates and projections are
used to meet thresholds, supply the estimate/projection as part of the justification
required when a statistical area does not meet the criteria. Population estimates and
projections do not need to be precise; they just need to show that the 2010 (or 2015)
population/housing units of the area will meet the thresholds.
The housing unit thresholds are based on a national average of 2.5 persons per household.
The Census Bureau recognizes that there are regional variations to this average and will
take this into consideration when reviewing all CT proposals. Participants may take local
variations into account when trying to meet thresholds.
Special land use and water CTs each have associated area thresholds, in addition to the
population/housing unit thresholds.
16

Continuous measurement is a method used by the ACS for obtaining characteristics data through a series
of large household surveys conducted every month.

The Census Bureau recognizes that in some areas it may be difficult to weigh the
importance of CT size (population and/or housing unit thresholds) with comparability.
Between these two criteria, meeting thresholds is the more important criteria to meet.
The Census Bureau may waive the maximum population and housing unit thresholds as
required to achieve other objectives of the CT program.
3.2.2 Census Tract Types
For Census 2010 there are standard CTs, special land use CTs, and water CTs. Standard
CTs are the county-based CTs defined by PSAP participants in the majority of areas, with
population and housing unit thresholds (standard CTs also include those CTs redefined to
better encompass AIR, ORTL, and/or Hawaiian Home Lands (HHL) 17 . Special land use
CTs are defined within areas that have a special land use type and which PSAP
participants may wish to separate from populated CTs for analytical or cartographic
purposes or both, and have little to no population/housing units, or meet standard CT
thresholds. Water CTs are defined territorial seas, coastal waters, the Great Lakes, and for
large water bodies of 100 square miles or more.
The definition of special land use CTs and water CTs for inland water bodies is optional .
Table 3 - Summary of CT Types
CT type description
Standard
CTsa

Population
thresholds
Optimum: 4,000;
Minimum: 1,200;
Maximum: 8,000

Housing unit
thresholds
Optimum: 1,600;
Minimum: 480;
Maximum: 3,200

A CT encompassing a large airport,
Zero or very little,
Zero or very little,
business/employment area, college,
or meet standard
or meet standard
hospital, jail, military installation,
CT thresholds
CT thresholds
public park or public forest with zero
or very little population or housing
units or meeting the standard CT
thresholds. In a densely populated,
urban area, a special land use CT
should be approximately 1 square mile
in area or greater. If delineated
completely outside an urban area, a
special land use CT should have an
area of 10 square miles or greater.
Zero
Zero
Water CTs A CT encompassing all or part of a
territorial sea, coastal water, a Great
Lake, or an inland water body at least
100 square miles in area.
a
Standard CTs include CTs updated so that they do not unnecessarily split AIR, ORTL, and HHL.
Special
land use
CTs

Area
thresholds
none

1 square
mile within
an urban
area/10
square miles
outside an
urban area

100 square
miles if an
inland water
body

AIR/ORTL/HHL CTs are county-based CTs defined through the PSAP so that AIR/ORTL/HHL are
within as few standard, county-based CTs as possible. Tribal CTs are AIR and/or ORTL-based CTs
defined through the TSAP.

Standard CTs defined to encompass AIR/ORTL/HHL
To facilitate the analysis of data for American Indian tribes, and to recognize their unique
governmental status, program participants are required to merge, split, or redefine CTs to
avoid unnecessarily splitting AIRs ORTLs and/or HHLs. Each contiguous AIR, ORTL,
and HHL should be included, along with any necessary territory outside the reservation,
off-reservation trust land, or home land, within a single CT or as few CTs as possible for
Census 2010. This is the only situation in which redefining standard CTs is allowed
without submitting required documentation.
Special land use CTs
The Census Bureau recognizes that there are geographic areas that are characterized by a
special land use type and that a local participant may wish to separate from standard CTs
for analytical or cartographic purposes or both. Such areas may be designated as special
land use CTs to distinguish them from standard CTs.
Special land use CTs:
Are defined for a specific type of land use (e.g., state park, municipal park)
Have an official name
Have ether very little or no residential population or housing units or meet standard
CT thresholds
o Some special land use areas not intended for residential population, such
as parks, may contain some population, such as caretakers or the
homeless. Each special land use CT will be reviewed and accepted or
rejected by the Census Bureau on a case-by-case basis
o Where a special land use CT is defined for an area with zero or very little
residential population, the CT must be recoded in the 98XX CT code
series
Cannot create a noncontiguous CT
Should have an area measurement of approximately 1 square mile or more if
located in a densely populated urban area, and approximately 10 square miles or
more if delineated completely outside an urban area
Should be of similar size to adjacent standard CTs
Should be coded in the 98XX CT coding series if an unpopulated special land use
CT, and coded in the standard CT coding series if a populated special land use CT
Participants are not required to delineate special land use CTs.

Figure 4: Large special land use areas within a county may be separated into their own CTs. In most cases
these special land use CTs should have no housing units or population. In this example, the National Mall
and East Potomac Park in Washington, DC have been represented by their own special land use CT.
Unpopulated special land use CTs must be numbered from 9800 to 9899 for Census 2010.

Table 4 contains the acceptable special land use CT types as well as population/housing
unit requirements and other guidelines:
Table 4 - Special land use tract types
Special land
use CT type

Description

Airport

Major airports; an area where aircrafts
take off and land, including the runway,
hangars, and terminal buildings

Business/
Employment

Major business or industrial park, central
business district, or other employment
area; an area containing a concentration
of employees/workers, including central
business districts or industrial parks
Major college, university, boarding
school, or other major educational
institution; academic buildings,
dormitories, and other area and/or
buildings
Major hospitals, nursing homes, or other
major health care facilities

College

Hospital

Jail

Jails, prisons, or other major correctional
facilities

Military

Major military installations; bases,
camps, posts, stations, yards, centers, or
other activities under the jurisdiction of
the Department of Defense
Major public parks or forests; areas
designated by the federal, state, or local
government as a public park or public
forest

Public Park/
Forest

Population/
housing unit
requirements
Zeroa

Zero, or meet
standard CT
thresholds

Other guidelines

Commercial airports
with 10,000 or more
enplanements (number
of passengers boarding
an aircraft) per year
should be made airport
special land use CTsb.
Other commercial
airports may be made
airport CTs if they have
2,500 or more
enplanements per year.
Other airports should
only be made airport
CTs if they are major
regional airports and the
resulting CT will be as
large or larger than the
surround standard CTs.
1,200 or more
employees/ workers at
place of workc

Zero, or meet
standard CT
thresholds

Zero, or meet
standard CT
thresholds
Zero, or meet
standard CT
thresholds
Zero, or meet
standard CT
thresholds
Zero

The Census Bureau recognizes that some special land use areas not intended for residential population, such as parks, may contain
some population, such as caretakers or the homeless.
b
2007 Enplanement data can be found at:

c
Contact your RCC if you need additional information about employees/workers at place of work.

Water CTs
The Census Bureau recognizes that there are territorial seas, coastal waters, Great Lakes,
and large inland water bodies (100 square miles or more) that a local participant may
wish to separate from standard CTs for analytical or cartographic purposes or both.
A participant must delineate a water CT to encompass all or part of a territorial sea,
coastal water, or a Great Lake. When inland water is delineated as a water CT, it must be
at least 100 square miles in area. If a water body meets this criterion and is in more than
one county, each county should delineate a CT for its portion of the water body.
A water CT must consist of only water; any island or other land within a qualifying water
body must be designated as its own separate CT (if it meets the population/housing unit
thresholds) or included within an adjacent land-based CT. A water CT should be similar
in size to the standard CTs in the county, and should be contiguous except where islands
are within the water body and are included in the adjacent land-based CT.
Figure 5: When a participant delineates a PSAP statistical area made up of only water (e.g., water CTs), the
participant should use, and create if needed, a non-visible line paralleling the shoreline rather than use the
shoreline itself as the CT boundary. This non-visible line should be used to exclude any islands near the
mainland from the water CT and include them within the land based CTs because water CTs must not
include any land area. This non-visible boundary in water should generally be no more than 500 feet from
the shoreline unless a greater distance is needed to exclude islands. Water CTs must be numbered from
9900 to 9989 for Census 2010.

Water CT boundaries should follow a non-visible line added in the water parallel to the
shoreline (coded P0002 in the PSAP MTPS).

3.2.3 Comparability (redefining census tracts)
Comparability has always been a goal in the CT program since its inception for the 1910
Census; however, as the use of CT data increases, the importance of comparability
increases. Maintaining comparability of CT boundaries over time facilitates longitudinal
data analysis. The advent of the ACS and the averaging of sample data for CTs over a
five-year span further underscore the need for consistent CT boundaries over time. If a
CT is revised to reflect change, then it can’t be used to measure that change.
Pursuant to this goal of continuity and comparability, the Census Bureau requests
that where a CT must be updated, for example to meet the minimum or maximum
population/ housing unit thresholds, that the outer boundaries of the CT not be
changed, but rather that a CT be split into two or more CTs, or merged with an
adjacent CT.
The Census Bureau strongly discourages changes to CT boundaries, except in specified
circumstances (e.g., where the physical features of an area have changed greatly due to
significant flooding or redevelopment), which the Census Bureau will review on a caseby-case basis. Participants may edit a CT boundary identified by the PSAP MTPS as not
acceptable or questionable so that it follows a nearby acceptable feature if the change
affects five percent or less of the Census 2000 population/housing units or area.
Cases where CT redefinition (greater than five percent change) is acceptable
It is acceptable for a CT to experience greater than five percent population/housing unit
count or area change in the following situations:
A CT is split or is merged with an adjacent CT
To better encompass (not unnecessarily split) AIR/ORTL/HHL
To create special land use CTs
To create water CTs
Note that the Census Bureau requires CT redefinition where an AIR, ORTL, and/or HHL
is split unnecessarily by standard CT boundaries. All AIRs/ORTLs/HHLs must be within
as few standard CTs as possible, and each AIR, ORTL, and/or HHL with a population of
2,400 or less and a housing unit count of 960 or less should not be split by standard CT
boundaries where feasible. Standard CTs delineated to encompass AIRs/ORTLs/HHLs
should have the majority of their area covered by AIRs/ORTLs/HHLs. In order to edit
these CTs one can split, merge, or change the boundaries.

Figure 6: AIRs, ORTLs, and HHLs should be in as few PSAP statistical areas as possible. In the first
example (“Before”) the AIR and ORTL (whose boundaries are symbolized as green stars) overlaps with
five CTs. In the second example (“After”), the CTs have been edited to have the AIR and ORTL only
overlap with one CT for Census 2010. All resulting CTs must still follow all other criteria and
guidelines.

Before

After

Approval for CT redefinition
If you are interested in redefining CTs for an area, or completely changing the boundaries
for 2 or more CTs, interested organizations, data users, and all highest elected officials in
the affected area must agree to the proposal. The Census Bureau requires that the
participant contact their RCC for specific instructions on how to document the agreement
by all interested parties, and specifically how to obtain the signatures of all highest
elected officials directly affected by the change. The Census Bureau will not accept a
redefined CT plan where highest elected official names and signatures have not been
provided. The Census Bureau may still decide not to accept a CT redefinition plan even
with the appropriate approvals. This requirement need not be met for the redefinition for
CTs encompassing AIR/ORTL/HHL, special land use CTs, and/or water CTs.
3.2.4 Census Tract Identifiers (Codes/Numbers)
CT codes must be unique within a county. Once used, CT codes cannot be reused in a
subsequent census to reference a completely different area within a county.
A CT has a six-digit code, and a CT number based on this code. The CT number is
composed of no more than four digits and may have a two-digit decimal suffix, for
example CT code “020000” has a CT number of “200”, and CT code “400329” has a CT
number “4003.29”
The range of acceptable standard CT numbers (codes) for Census 2010 is from 1
(000100) to 9399.99 (939999), and 9500 (950000) to 9699.99 (9699.99)
If a CT is split, each portion may keep the same basic 4-digit identifier, but each portion
must be given a new unique suffix. If a CT that was suffixed for Census 2000 is split,
each portion must be given a new suffix. The range of acceptable CT suffixes is .01 to
.98. Where possible, the Census Bureau recommends that CT suffixes follow a
sequential, logical order within a CT. The PSAP MTPS contains a tool that can be used
to change CT suffixes for those 2000 CTs that were split for 2010 and have been assigned
suffixes in a non-sequential pattern.

Figure 7: CTs that have a population and/or housing unit count above the maximum threshold should be
split by participants into two or more CTs for Census 2010. The resulting CTs should have population
and/or housing unit counts as close to the optimum count as possible. When a CT is split for Census
2010, each of the resulting new CTs will have a 2-digit suffix added to its CT number. In this example,
the above maximum CT number 1052 (code = 105200) is split into and suffixed as CTs 1052.01 and
1052.02 (codes = 105201 and 105202 respectively).

Before

After

If a CT is merged with an adjacent CT the next appropriate and available code in the
county or area CT series should be used for the new merged CT.

The PSAP MTPS automatically suggests appropriate CT codes for CTs that are merged
or split, and CTs delineated as special land use CTs. The PSAP MTPS also highlights the
CTs that need to be recoded: those that have a majority of their population and/or area in
an AIR, ORTL, or HHL and large water CTs.
Special code ranges
The following are code ranges designated for special land use CTs, water CTs, and CTs
that have a majority of their population and/or area in an AIR, ORTL, or HHL. All other
CTs coded within these ranges must be recoded.
CTs that have a majority of their population and/or area in an AIR, ORTL, or
HHL should continue to be coded from 9400 to 9499. All other CTs that fall
within the 9400-9499 range must be recoded. Local participants may opt to
recode these CTs in a numeric range consistent with the rest of the county since
TSAP defined tribal CTs are proposed to be a separate and distinct geographic
entity.
Unpopulated special land use CTs must be coded from 9800-9899. Populated
special land use CTs must be coded in the standard CT code series. All other CTs
that fall within the 9800-9899 range must be recoded.
Water CTs must be coded from 9900 to 9989. All other CTs that fall within the
9900-9989 range must be recoded. For Census 2000, water CTs were all coded
0000. Each of these must be recoded for Census 2010.
3.2.5 Census Tract Boundary Features
To make the location of CTs boundaries less ambiguous, wherever possible, CT
boundaries should follow visible and identifiable features. The use of visible features
makes it easier to locate and identify CT boundaries over time as the locations of many
visible features in the landscape tend to change infrequently. The Census Bureau also
requires the use of state and county boundaries in all states, and permits the use of
incorporated place and MCD boundaries in states where those boundaries tend to remain
unchanged over time (refer to Table 1 in Chapter 2).

3.3 Reviewing and Revising Existing Census Tracts
The Census Bureau requests that participants review all CTs in the county or counties the
participant agreed to cover for the PSAP. When updating 2010 CTs, the proposed CTs
must meet all Census 2010 criteria, including population/housing unit, AIR/ORTL/HHL
relationship, boundary feature, and shape index requirements. Additionally CTs must
meet the special land use CT and water CT requirements where they are designated.
To assist in this review, the Census Bureau is providing the PSAP MTPS which
highlights and provides the appropriate tools to edit those CTs that do not meet the
criteria - CTs with populations below or above Census 2010 population/housing unit
thresholds, CTs that split AIR/ORTL/HHL, CTs that require recoding (water CTs, CTs
on AIR/ORTL/HHL), CTs that don’t meet the shape index requirements 18 , CTs that are
noncontiguous, and CTs that have boundary features that are questionable or
18

CTs that fail the shape index threshold are elongated, narrow CTs and CTs that are not compact.

unacceptable. Additionally, the PSAP MTPS contains tools to designate special land use
CTs and to view and edit ineligible boundary features. When editing CTs, the PSAP
MTPS tallies the Census 2000 population and housing unit counts for the selected areas
so that the user can easily assess when the thresholds have been met.
The Census Bureau requires that local participants edit the CT to meet criteria or provide
a justification where the CT does not meet the criteria. Valid justifications for CTs that
do not meet the criteria are as follows 19 :
1. CT is below the minimum population threshold (<1,200 population)
Includes greater than 480 housing units (meets threshold)
County does not include enough population to meet the threshold
New housing units built since 2000 (meets threshold)
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015)
Population counts provided are incorrect
Seasonal population
2. CT is below the minimum housing unit threshold (<480 housing units)
Includes greater than 1,200 population (meets threshold)
County does not include enough housing units to meet the threshold
New housing units built since 2000 (will meet threshold)
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015)
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect
3. CT is above the maximum population threshold (>8,000 population)
Includes fewer than 3,200 housing units (meets threshold)
Population associated with group quarter(s)
Large number of seasonally occupied housing units
Population counts provided are incorrect
4. CT is above the maximum housing unit threshold (>3,200 housing units)
Includes fewer than 8,000 population (meets threshold)
Large number of seasonally occupied housing units
Large number of housing units uninhabitable
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect
5. CT is noncontiguous
County is noncontiguous
Includes islands, causeways or other land in a water body
6. CT fails the shape index threshold
The unedited Census 2000 CT fails the minimum shape index threshold

When estimates/projections are used to meet thresholds supply the estimates as part of the justification
required when a statistical area does not meet the criteria.

Figure 8: The justification window, labeled as "Confirm with Explanation", appears in the PSAP
MTPS when a statistical area does not meet a specific criterion and/or guideline and the Census Bureau
requires an explanation for its records as to why a particular statistical area does not. Please keep your
explanations brief, but clear and meaningful to everyone. If you find yourself using the same one or
few explanations numerous times and want to same time, type the explanations into a text editor or
word processing document on the computer on which you are running the PSAP MTPS and then copy
and paste them into justification window as needed.

Meets minimum threshold based on 2008
population estimate of 5,100.

3.3.1 Census Tracts Below Minimum Thresholds (Merging)
The Census Bureau strongly recommends and encourages that participants combine all
CTs with a population/housing unit count of 1,200/480 or fewer (based on Census 2000
or a more current estimate) with one or more adjacent CTs, preferably with others that are
also below the minimum population/housing unit threshold. We recommend this be done
without changing the outer boundary of the CTs used as part of the new merged CT. In
this way data users can aggregate data for the newly created (merged) CT to arrive at
comparability with the original CTs.
The optimum population/housing units for the resulting merged CT is 4,000
population/1,600 housing units. Aiming to create CTs that meet the optimum
population/housing unit threshold will improve the reliability and availability of sample
data for that CT. The Census Bureau requires a statement justifying any proposed CT
with a Census 2000 population/housing unit count below 1,200/460. Each proposed new
(merged) CT must meet all Census 2010 feature and population/housing unit criteria.
The Census Bureau requires a statement justifying any proposed CT with a Census 2000
population/housing unit count below 1,200/480. With appropriate justification, the
Census Bureau, at its discretion, may grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

Figure 9: If possible, CTs that have a population and/or housing unit count below the minimum
threshold must be merged by participants with one or more adjacent census tracts for Census 2010.
The resulting CT should have a population and/or housing unit count as close to the optimum count
as possible. When CTs are merged for Census 2010, the resulting new CT will have a completely
new CT code. In this example, the below minimum CTs 35.01 and 35.02 (codes = 003501 and
003502 respectively) are merged into and recoded as CTs 36 (code = 003600).

Before

After

3.3.2 Census Tracts Above Maximum Thresholds (Splitting)
The Census Bureau recommends and encourages participants to subdivide Census 2000
CTs with a population/housing unit count of 8,000/1,200 or greater (based on Census
2000 counts or a more current estimate). When splitting a CT to create two or more new
CTs, the Census Bureau strongly recommends splitting the existing CT while retaining
the original CT boundary. In this way data users can aggregate data for the newly created
(split) CTs to arrive at comparability with the original single CT. Each proposed new
(split) CT must meet all Census 2010 feature and population/housing unit criteria.
The optimum population/housing units for the split CTs is 4,000 population/1,600
housing units. The Census Bureau requires a statement justifying any proposed CT with
a Census 2000 population/housing unit count above 8,000/1,200. With appropriate
justification, the Census Bureau, at its discretion, may grant exceptions on a case-by-case
basis.
The CT coding scheme for identifying CT splits uses the sequential decimal numbers .01,
.02, .03, and so forth as a suffix to the basic 4 digit CT code. If a CT with a suffixed CT
code, such as 101.02, is split for subsequent censuses, drop the previously used suffix
(.02) and code the CTs resulting from the split with the next available, sequential
suffixes, such as 101.04 and 101.05. Using this scheme up to 99 suffix codes (.01 to .99)
are available.
3.3.3 Editing Census Tracts that Fail the Shape Index Threshold
(Split/Merge/Boundary Changes)
CTs that fail the shape index thresholds are elongated, narrow CTs (or “sliver” CTs) and
CTs that are not compact. CTs that fail the shape index may indicate a delineating or
digitizing error. The Census Bureau recommends and encourages participants to split,
merge or edit CTs that fail the shape index threshold, especially those CTs that have
already been edited (split, merge, boundary change) for Census 2010. Participants may
retain Census 2000 CTs that fail the shape index threshold without any editing.
3.3.4 Editing Census Tract Boundaries (Boundary Changes)
Working by CT, review all not acceptable and questionable boundary features.
Where possible and appropriate, correct all not acceptable boundary features by either
selecting an acceptable nearby feature to serve as the new CT boundary or by correcting
the type of feature shown in the PSAP MTPS. The acceptable nearby features may
already be in the MTDB (and present in the PSAP MTPS shapefiles) or may need to be
added in the MTPS. As time permits, also correct questionable boundary features that
require correction.

Figure 10: If possible, PSAP statistical area boundaries, symbolized as a plain red straight line, should be
moved from unacceptable non-visible features, symbolized as "fuzzy" red lines, to the closest acceptable
features (any linear feature not symbolized as a "fuzzy" red line). Acceptable features are those that can
more easily be located by people working in the field and that allow for more clear allocation of housing
units to one side of a boundary or the other.

Before

After

Prioritize editing not acceptable and questionable boundary features where housing units
will be affected by the boundary change (i.e., editing the boundary so that it follows an
acceptable feature will encompass more or fewer housing units). As time permits, edit
the not acceptable and questionable boundary features that will not affect housing units.
When editing CT boundaries, remember that comparability is important to the CT
program. Editing a questionable or ineligible CT boundary so that it follows a
nearby acceptable feature is acceptable if five percent or less of the Census 2000
population/housing units are affected by the change.
CTs revised for Census 2010 should not be recoded, unless altered so that comparability
with their Census 2000 counterparts no longer exists. If assigning a new CT code, assign
the next available code within the coding range used in the county but do not reuse a CT
code used in the Census 2000 or previous censuses.

3.4 Census Tracts on Federally Recognized American Indian
Reservations and Off-Reservation Trust Lands
For Census 2000 American Indian area participants were given the opportunity to
delineate CTs on federally recognized AIRs and ORTLs. In most cases the American
Indian area participant defining CTs on AIRs and ORTLs was not the Census 2000 PSAP
participant for the area.
In Census 2000 data products in which data were presented by state and county, the
standard state-county-CT hierarchy was maintained, even for territory contained within
an AIR and/or ORTL. In such instances, the state/county portions of a tribal CT were
identified as individual CTs. These standard CTs may not have met the minimum
population thresholds; therefore, potentially limiting sample data reliability or availability
for either or both the tribal CT and the derived standard CTs.
For improved geographic information and data presentation purposes, the Census Bureau
is creating standard, county-based CTs nationwide through the PSAP and maintaining
tribal CTs on AIRs/ORTLs as a completely separate set of geography from standard CTs
through the TSAP. This change seeks to eliminate, in part, these issues that existed with
Census 2000 data. As a result, PSAP participants will review and update county-based
CTs that are on AIR/ORTL. For Census 2010 American Indian area participants should
participate in the PSAP process by working with the other PSAP participants to delineate
standard CTs and other statistical areas directly affecting their AIRs/ORTLs. As with all
other interested organizations and individuals, the Census Bureau requires that you work
with interested tribes in your area in the review and update of Census 2010 statistical
areas.
CTs on AIRs and ORTLs, and also HHLs, should be edited so that AIR/ORTL/HHL are
within as few CTs as possible. Each AIR, ORTL, or HHL with a population of 2,400 or
less and a housing unit count of 960 or less should not be split by CT boundaries. If
possible, CTs delineated to encompass AIRs/ORTLs/HHLs should have the majority of
their area covered by AIRs/ORTLs/HHLs. One of the few circumstances where

redefining, or completely changing the boundaries of the CT (not by splitting or
merging), is encouraged by the Census Bureau is where an AIR/ORTL/HHL is split
unnecessarily by standard CT boundaries. In order to edit these CTs one can split, merge,
or change the boundaries.

4. Block Groups
The Census Bureau is offering local data users the opportunity to review and update
Census 2000 BGs, statistical geographic divisions of a CT defined for the tabulation and
presentation of data from the decennial census and selected other statistical programs.
BGs will also be used to tabulate and publish estimates from the ACS after 2010. BGs
provide the geographic framework within which the Census Bureau defines and identifies
census blocks. Each BG comprises a reasonably compact and contiguous cluster of
census blocks; up to ten BGs can be contained within a single CT (up to nine standard
BGs and one water BG).
The Census Bureau provides these guidelines for use by statistical areas participants in
the review and revision, if necessary, of existing Census 2000 BGs. This chapter, as well
as Chapter 2 (Statistical Area Boundary Feature Criteria), is for all participants reviewing
BGs.
Because BGs nest within CTs, the Census Bureau suggests participants review both
Chapters 3 (Census Tracts) and 4 (Block Groups) before proceeding with the review and
delineation of these two areas. Refer to the PSAP MTPS User Guide for specific
delineation and submission instructions.
For information about the history of BGs refer to Appendix C - Statistical Areas History.

4.1 Block Group Coverage
BGs nest within and completely cover CTs nationwide (i.e., wall-to-wall coverage
nationwide).
In order to provide meaningful statistical geographic areas within AIRs and ORTLs, as
well as make meaningful and reliable data available for these areas and their populations,
PSAP participants will define Census 2010 standard (county-CT based) BGs nationwide.
American Indian tribes will define tribal BGs through the TSAP, a program designed
specifically for review, update, and delineation of tribal statistical geography. The tribal
BG geography will be maintained separately from standard BG geography. This differs
from the procedure for Census 2000 in which tribal BGs were defined by American
Indian tribes within federally recognized AIRs and ORTLs, and standard BGs were
identified in those same areas by superimposing county and state boundaries onto the
tribal BGs. For additional information about the TSAP refer to:
or contact your RCC.

4.2 Block Group Criteria
The Census Bureau published Census 2010 BG criteria in the Federal Register, which is
available at .
The Census Bureau establishes and maintains BGs solely for statistical purposes and does
not tailor our criteria or attempt to anticipate any non-statistical uses that may be made of
41

their definitions. BGs are not designed to meet the requirements of any non-statistical
programs, including the programs of other government agencies.
The Census Bureau will not modify the BG criteria to meet the requirements of any nonstatistical program, or accept, as justification for an exception to or exemption from the
BG criteria, the use of these areas in any non-statistical program.
4.2.1 Population, Housing Units, and Area
Table 5 - Census 2010 Thresholds
BG type
Standard BGs
Special land use BGs
(coextensive with special
land use CTs)
Water BGs (coextensive
with water CTs or a water
BG encompassing a smaller
inland water body)

Threshold type
Population threshold
Housing Unit threshold
Area threshold for an urban
area (square miles)
Area threshold outside an
urban area (square miles)
Area threshold (square
miles)

Minimum
600
240

Maximum
3,000
1,200

none

100 square miles if
an inland water
body or none if not
coextensive with a
water CT

none

Threshold changes for Census 2010 20
For Census 2010 the population thresholds for all BGs are 600 minimum and 3,000
maximum.
The sample size for the ACS is smaller than the sample from the decennial census long
form of previous censuses. As a general rule, estimates from programs providing sample
data, including the ACS, for geographic areas with smaller populations will be subject to
higher variances than comparable estimates for areas with larger populations (i.e., the
sample data for smaller population geographies will likely be less reliable than the
sample data for geographies with larger population). In addition, the Census Bureau’s
disclosure rules may have the effect of restricting the availability and amount of sample
data published for geographic areas with small populations. Aiming to create BGs that
fall between the minimum and maximum thresholds will improve the reliability and
availability of data, and PSAP participants should consider these factors when defining
their BGs.
Therefore, each BG must encompass at least 600 people or at least 240 housing units
unless it is coextensive with a special land use CT or water CT, or is coextensive with a
county with fewer than 600 people. Any BG with a population or housing unit count less
than the minimum threshold should be updated to meet or exceed the minimum threshold.
20

For Census 2000, the population threshold in most areas (for standard CTs) the optimum was 1,500, the
minimum was 600 and the maximum was 3,000; for BGs defined in AIRs/ORTLs the optimum was 1,000,
the minimum 300 and the maximum 3,000; and for BGs defined in group quarters (e.g. military
installations) the minimum was 3,000, the maximum 1,500 and there was no optimum.

The Census Bureau will use Census 2000 population and housing unit counts, with
allowance made for growth since 2000, to assess whether each submitted BG meets this
criterion. Program participants may submit local estimates as a surrogate for the Census
2000 population and housing unit counts for a BG.
With the advent of the ACS and the “continuous measurement” of characteristics of the
population and housing based on a five-year average, there are some new issues to
consider in the BG criteria. To accommodate this change, either population or housing
units may be used in the review of BGs. The use of housing unit counts accommodates
seasonal communities in which residents often are not present on the date of the
decennial census, but will be present at other times of the year and for which estimates
may be reflected in the ACS. The ACS is designed to produce local area data as of a 12month period estimate (or an average); whereas, in the past local area data were only
represented as of the April 1 Census Day.
In most cases, population counts should be used in BG review. Housing unit counts
should be used for BGs in seasonal communities that have no or low population on
Census Day (April 1, 2010). Current (2008 or earlier), locally produced estimates of
population and housing units can and should be used when reviewing and updating BGs,
especially in areas that have experienced considerable growth since Census 2000. Future
growth may be considered, but should only be used to exceed the minimum threshold.
Future growth projections should extend no more than 5 years from the date of 2010
PSAP review and update (i.e., pre-2015) so that the projections are more likely to be
reliable and to best leverage the ACS data. When estimates and projections are used to
meet thresholds, supply the estimate/projection as part of the justification required when
a statistical area does not meet the criteria. Population estimates and projections do not
need to be precise; they just need to show that the 2010 (or 2015) population/housing
units of the area will meet the thresholds.
The housing unit thresholds are based on a national average of 2.5 persons per household.
The Census Bureau recognizes that there are regional variations to this average, and will
take this into consideration when reviewing all BG proposals. Participants may take local
variations into account when trying to meet thresholds
For Census 2010, the Census Bureau will allow the delineation of special land use CTs,
and special land use BGs will be created coextensive with these special land use CTs.
Water BGs are defined as coextensive with water CTs for territorial sea, coastal water,
the Great Lakes, and large water bodies of 100 square miles or more, or for smaller water
bodies that the PSAP participant wishes to separate from standard BGs.
4.2.2 Block Group Types
For Census 2010 there are standard census BGs, special land use BGs, and water BGs.
Standard BGs are the conventional BGs defined by PSAP participants, in the majority of
areas, with standard population and housing unit thresholds. Special land use BGs are
defined as coextensive with special land use CTs. Water BGs are defined as coextensive
with water CTs for territorial sea, coastal water, the Great Lakes, and large water bodies

of 100 square miles or more, or may be for smaller water bodies that the PSAP
participant wishes to separate from standard BGs.
Table 6 - Summary of BG Types
How distinct
from
standard BGs
Standard
BGs

Population thresholds

Housing unit
thresholds

Area thresholds

Minimum: 600;
Maximum: 3,000

Minimum: 240;
Maximum: 1,200

none

one square mile
within an urban
area/ten square
miles outside an
urban area
100 square miles
if an inland
water body or
none if not
coextensive with
a water CT

Special land
use BGs

A BG
coextensive
with a special
land use CT

Zero to little

Water BGs

A BG
coextensive
with a water
CT or a BG
encompassing
a small inland
water body

Zero

Special land use block groups and water block groups
The Census Bureau recognizes that there are geographic areas that are not characterized
by a residential population, and which local participants may wish to separate from
populated areas for analytical or cartographic purposes or both. Such areas may be
designated as special land use CTs or water CTs to distinguish them from standard CTs,
and a special land use BG or water BG is created coextensive with this special land use
CT or water CT, respectively. Refer to section 3.3.4 (Census Tract Types) for additional
information on special land use CTs and water CTs.
Where a special land use CT meets thresholds, the coextensive special land use block
group will be above the maximum thresholds. In this case, do not edit the block group;
provide the justification “Special land use block group”.
Where a water CT is not defined, a water BG may be created to encompass a smaller
water feature where no water CT and coextensive water BG is created.
Water BGs not coextensive with water CTs:
must be coded 0
should be of similar size to adjacent standard BGs
may be non-contiguous, and if so:
o should be in fewer than 4 noncontiguous parts
o each non-contiguous part should be of similar size to area standard BGs
must consist completely of water (no land area)
4.2.3 Comparability
Comparability is not a significant concern for BGs.

The Census Bureau strongly encourages and recommends combining a BG into an
adjacent BG or redefining the BG when the BG is below the minimum required
population/housing unit threshold. Participants should be aware that sample data (e.g.,
ACS data) reported for low population/housing unit BGs are subject to increased levels
of variability because of the small number of people and housing units included in the
sample.
The Census Bureau generally will not accept proposed BGs that do not meet the required
minimum population/housing unit threshold. However, with appropriate justification, the
Census Bureau may grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis for proposed BGs with
slightly less than the required minimum population/housing units.
Similarly, the Census Bureau recommends splitting or editing a BG when the BG is
above the maximum population/housing unit threshold. A participant may retain any BG
with a population greater than the maximum population/housing units where an
appropriate justification is provided. However, the Census Bureau recommends splitting
such areas into two or more BGs in order to provide a consistent framework of units with
similar population.
4.2.4 Block Group Identifiers (Codes/Numbers)
BG codes must be unique within a CT. The range of acceptable BG codes is 1 through 9;
BGs that completely consist of water must be coded as 0.
The census blocks delineated to tabulate and report results from the Census 2010 will be
numbered within the BGs defined in PSAP. Each standard BG is identified using a
single-digit code that will correspond to the first digit in the code of each block
encompassed by the BG. For example, all blocks within BG 3 will be numbered in the
3000 range.
Special land use BGs created coextensive with special land use CTs should be coded as 1.
Water BGs created coextensive with water CTs should be coded as 0.
Review all BG codes after completing BG editing. If the BG codes within a CT are not
sequential, recode the BGs sequentially within the CT, beginning with one and
continuing with as many BG codes as needed up to the maximum of nine (e.g., if there
are 4 BGs in the CT, the BGs will be coded 1, 2, 3, 4 and not 1, 4, 5, 9). This excludes
water BGs that are coded as 0.
The Census Bureau may recode all block groups to assure that the BG codes are
sequential. If you do not want your block groups recoded after submission, please
contact your RCC to indicate your interest in maintaining BG codes as submitted.

Figure 11: All BGs within one CT should be numbered sequentially beginning with number/code 1. A
BG should always either have either the next highest or lowest number/code as one of its adjacent BG
(except for any water BG numbered/coded as zero (0)). If a participant submits BG that are not
numbered sequentially within a CT, the Census Bureau plans, time and resources permitting, to
renumber/recode the BGs sequentially unless notified by the participant otherwise.

Before

After

4.2.5 Block Group Boundary Features
CT boundaries must be BG boundaries.
To make the location of BG boundaries less ambiguous, wherever possible, BG
boundaries should follow visible and identifiable features. The use of visible features
makes it easier to locate and identify BG boundaries over time as the locations of many
visible features in the landscape tend to change infrequently. The Census Bureau also
requires the use of state and county boundaries in all states, and permits the use of
incorporated place and MCD boundaries in states where those boundaries tend to remain
unchanged over time (refer to Table 1 in Chapter 2).

4.3 Reviewing and Revising Existing Block Groups
The Census Bureau requests that participants review all BGs in the county or counties the
participant agreed to cover for the PSAP. Participants must complete their review and
revision of CTs before reviewing and editing BGs. When updating BGs, the proposed
BGs must meet population/housing unit, numbering, shape index, and boundary feature
criteria. Participants may edit BGs freely; they should, however, weigh the advantages of
maintaining some BG comparability between censuses.
The Census Bureau requests that participants review all the BGs in the county or counties
the participant agreed to cover for the 2010 PSAP. To assist in this review, the Census
Bureau is providing the PSAP MTPS that highlights and provides the appropriate tools to
edit those BGs that do not meet the criteria - BGs with populations below or above
Census 2010 population/housing unit thresholds, BGs that don’t meet the shape index
requirements, BGs that are noncontiguous, and BGs that have boundary features that are
questionable or unacceptable. Additionally, the PSAP MTPS contains tools to designate
water BGs where a water CT is not defined. When editing BGs the PSAP MTPS tallies
the Census 2000 population and housing unit counts for the selected areas so that the user
can easily assess when the thresholds have been met.
The Census Bureau requires that local participants provide a justification where the BG
does not meet the criteria. Valid justifications for BGs that do not meet the criteria are as
follows:
1. BG is below the minimum population threshold (<600 population)
Includes greater than 240 housing units (meets threshold)
County does not include enough population to meet the threshold
New housing units built since 2000 (meets threshold)
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015)
Population counts provided are incorrect
Seasonal population
Water only
2. BG is below the minimum housing unit threshold (<240 housing units)
Includes greater than 600 population (meets threshold)
County does not include enough housing units to meet the threshold

New housing units built since 2000; will meet threshold
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015)
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect
Special land use block group
Water only

3. BG is above the maximum population threshold (>3,000 population)
Includes fewer than 1,200 housing units (meets threshold)
Population associated with group quarter(s)
Large number of seasonally occupied housing units
Population counts provided are incorrect
4. BG is above the maximum housing unit threshold (>1,200 housing units)
Includes fewer than 3,000 population (meets threshold)
Large number of seasonally occupied housing units
Large number of housing units uninhabitable
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect
5. BG is noncontiguous
County is noncontiguous
Includes islands, causeways, or other land in a water body
6. BG fails the shape index threshold
The unedited Census 2000 BG fails the minimum shape index threshold
4.3.1 Block Groups Below Minimum Thresholds (Merging and Boundary Changes)
For Census 2010, the Census Bureau is most interested in providing a meaningful
statistical area in terms of population/housing unit size. Therefore, the Census Bureau
strongly encourages and recommends that local participants edit all BGs with a
population/housing unit count of 600/240 or fewer (based on Census 2000 counts or a
more current estimate). Aiming to create BGs that meet or exceed the minimum
population/housing unit threshold will improve the reliability and availability of sample
data.
BGs can be edited to meet the minimum threshold by merging the BG with an adjacent
BG or BGs, or by changing the boundaries so that the BG encompasses more
population/housing units. Each proposed new (merged/edited) BG must meet all Census
2010 feature and population/housing unit criteria. The Census Bureau requires a
statement justifying any proposed BG with a Census 2000 population/housing unit count
below 600/240. With appropriate justification, the Census Bureau, at its discretion, may
grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
A CT with a population of less than 1,200 can contain only one BG.

Figure 12: If possible, BGs that have a population and/or housing unit count below the minimum
threshold must be changed so that the resulting BGs meet or exceed the minimum population and/or
housing unit thresholds. In this example, the participant merged two below minimum BGs to at least
meet the minimum thresholds. Although the minimum population for a BG for Census 2010 is 600 if
possible, the Census Bureau suggests that BGs delineated for Census 2010 include a population of at
least 1,200 people to help with sample data reliability and availability from the ACS after 2010.

Before

After

Figure 13: If possible, BGs that have a population and/or housing unit count below the minimum
threshold must be changed so that the resulting BGs meet or exceed the minimum population and/or
housing unit thresholds. In addition, those BGs above the maximum population and/or housing unit
thresholds should be changed so that their population and/or housing unit counts fall between the
minimum and maximum thresholds for BGs. In this example, the participant performed a boundary
change to the both BGs, rather than merging or splitting BGs, to make them both meet the thresholds
for Census 2010. Since BGs, unlike CTs, are not required to be geographically comparable from
census to census, it is much more acceptable to use boundary changes, rather than merging and
splitting, to delineate BGs for Census 2010. Although the minimum population for a BG for Census
2010 is 600 if possible, the Census Bureau suggests that BGs delineated for Census 2010 include a
population of at least 1,200 people to help with sample data reliability and availability from the ACS
published after 2010.

Before

After

4.3.2 Block Groups Above Maximum Thresholds (Splitting and Boundary Changes)
The Census Bureau strongly encourages and recommends that local participants edit all
BGs with a population/housing unit count of 3,000/1,200 or greater (based on Census
2000 counts or a more current estimate). BGs can be edited to meet the maximum
threshold by splitting the BG into two or more BGs, or by changing the boundaries so
that the BG encompasses fewer population/housing units. Each proposed new
(split/edited) BG must meet all Census 2010 feature and population/housing unit criteria.
By subdividing BGs above the population/housing unit threshold, all users get the benefit
of finer-grained small area data. The Census Bureau requires a statement justifying any
proposed BG with a Census 2000 population/housing unit count above 3,000/1,200. With
appropriate justification, the Census Bureau, at its discretion, may grant exceptions on a
case-by-case basis.

Figure 14: BGs that have a population and/or housing unit count above the maximum threshold should
be changed by participants so that the resulting BGs are below the maximum population and/or
housing unit thresholds. In this example, the above maximum BG 1 in census tract 11.02 (code =
0011021) is split into block groups 7 and 8 (codes = 0011027 and 0011028 respectively).

Before

After

4.3.3 Block Groups that Fail the Shape Index Threshold (Split, Merge, Boundary
Change)
BGs that fail the shape index thresholds are elongated, narrow BGs (or “sliver BGs”) and
BGs that are not compact. BGs that fail the shape index may indicate a delineating or
digitizing error. The Census Bureau recommends and encourages participants to split,
merge or edit BGs that fail the shape index threshold, especially BGs that have been
already edited (split, merge, boundary change) for Census 2010. Participants may retain
Census 2000 BGs that fail the shape index threshold without any editing.
4.3.4 Editing Block Group Boundaries (Boundary Changes)
Working by BG, review all not acceptable and questionable boundary features.
Where possible and appropriate, correct all not acceptable boundary features by either
selecting an acceptable nearby feature to serve as the new BG boundary or by correcting
the type of feature shown in the PSAP MTPS. The acceptable nearby features may
already be in the MTDB (and present in the PSAP MTPS shapefiles) or may need to be
added in the MTPS. As time permits, also correct questionable boundary features that
require correction.
Prioritize editing not acceptable and questionable boundary features where housing units
will be affected by the boundary change (i.e., editing the boundary so that it follows an
acceptable feature will encompass more or fewer housing units). As time permits, edit
the not acceptable and questionable boundary features that will not affect housing units.

4.4 Block Groups on Federally Recognized American Indian
Reservations and Off-Reservation Trust Lands
For Census 2000 American Indian area participants were responsible for delineating BGs
on federally recognized AIRs and ORTLs. In most cases the American Indian area
participant defining BGs on AIR and ORTL was not the Census 2000 PSAP participant
for the area.
In Census 2000 data products in which data were presented by state and county, the
standard state-county-CT-BG hierarchy was maintained, even for territory contained
within an AIR/ORTL. In such instances, the state/county portions of a tribal BG were
identified as standard, county-CT-based BGs. These standard BGs may not have met the
minimum population thresholds, therefore, potentially limiting sample data reliability or
availability for both the tribal BG and the derived standard BG.
For improved geographic information and data presentation, the Census Bureau is
creating standard, county-CT based BGs nationwide through the PSAP and maintaining
tribal BGs on AIRs/ORTLs as a completely separate set of geography from standard
BGs. This change seeks to eliminate, in part, these issues that existed with Census 2000
data. As a result, PSAP participants will review and update BGs that are on
AIRs/ORTLs. For Census 2010, American Indian area participants should participate in
the PSAP process by working with the other PSAP participants to delineate standard BGs

and other statistical areas directly affecting their AIRs/ORTLs. As with all other
interested organizations and individuals, the Census Bureau requires that you work with
interested tribes in your area in the review and update of Census 2010 statistical areas.

5. Census Designated Places (CDPs)
The Census Bureau is offering local data users the opportunity to revise existing CDPs
and propose new CDPs for use in the tabulation and presentation of data from the
decennial census, Economic Census, and the ACS after 2010.
CDPs are statistical geographic areas representing closely settled, unincorporated
communities that are locally recognized and identified by name. CDPs are the statistical
equivalents of incorporated places, with the primary differences being the lack of both a
legally-defined boundary and an active, functioning governmental structure, chartered by
the state and administered by elected officials. The primary goal of the CDP program is
to provide meaningful statistics for well-known, unincorporated localities.
The Census Bureau is providing these guidelines for use by statistical areas participants
in the review and delineation of Census 2010 CDPs. This chapter, as well as Chapter 2
(Statistical Area Boundary Feature Criteria), is for all participants reviewing CDPs.
Refer to the PSAP MTPS User Guide for specific delineation and submission
instructions.
For information about the history of CDPs Refer to Appendix C - Statistical Areas
History.

5.1 CDP Coverage
A CDP may not be located, either partially or entirely, within an incorporated place or
another CDP.
A CDP may be located in more than one county but must not cross state boundaries. It is
important to note, however, that since county boundaries provide important demarcations
for communities, CDPs that cross county lines should be kept to a minimum and
identified only when the community clearly sees itself existing on both sides of a county
boundary.
CDPs (or CDPs and incorporated places, together) may not cover a county wall-to-wall.
CDPs should not be used to define areas that completely cover a county (i.e., wall-to-wall
coverage) such as zoning areas or fire districts. CDPs should be defined for discreet
unincorporated communities, and be comparable in area, layout, and make-up to
incorporated places in the same county and/or state.

5.2 CDP Criteria
The Census Bureau published the CDP criteria for Census 2010 in the Federal Register; a
copy is available at: .
5.2.1 Population and Housing Units
A CDP must contain some population or housing units or both.

The Census Bureau eliminated minimum population thresholds for CDPs for Census
2000, enabling the identification and tabulation of data for small, unincorporated
communities, particularly in rural areas, as CDPs. The Census Bureau recognizes that
some communities, such as resort or other kinds of seasonal communities, may lack
population at certain times of the year. Nevertheless, there should be some evidence,
generally in the form of houses, barracks, dormitories, commercial buildings, and/or
other structures, providing the basis for local perception of the place’s existence. For
Census 2010, the Census Bureau will not accept a CDP delineated with zero population
and zero housing units, and requests a justification be provided for CDPs delineated with
fewer than 10 housing units for Census 2010. The Census Bureau will review the
number of housing units within the place, as reported in the previous decennial census,
and consider whether additional information is needed before recognizing the CDP.
Participants submitting boundaries for places with less than 10 housing units will need to
provide additional information attesting to the existence of the CDP.
However, as a general rule, geographic areas with smaller populations are subject to
higher variances than comparable estimates for areas with larger populations from
programs providing sample data, including the ACS. In other words, CDPs with smaller
population/housing units (with a population less than 4,000) may have less reliable and
available data, and the reliability and availability of the data increases as the population
increases. It is important to note, nonetheless, that CDPs may be defined for reasons
other than the provision of sample data.
5.2.2 CDP Identifiers (Names)
The CDP name should be one that is recognized and used in daily communication by the
residents of the community. There should be features in the landscape that use the name,
such that a non-resident would have a general sense of the location or extent of the
community, for example, signs indicating when one is entering the community; highway
exit signs that use the name; businesses, schools, or other buildings that make use of the
name. Hyphenated names are only acceptable where two or more communities are
perceived to be a single area with the names mingling within the area, and it is difficult to
locate a boundary between the communities.
It is permissible to change the name of a Census 2000 CDP if the new name provides a
better identification of the community and is the name that residents associate with the
community.
A CDP may not have the same name as an adjacent or nearby incorporated place. If the
community does not have a name that distinguishes it from other nearby communities,
then the community is not a distinct place. The use of directional terms (“north”, “south”,
“east”, “west”, and so forth) to differentiate the name of a CDP from a nearby
municipality where this name is not in local use is not acceptable. Additionally, a CDP
or CDP name should not be developed solely for planning or other purposes (including
simply to obtain data from the Census Bureau).

5.2.3 CDP Boundary Features
To make the location of CDP boundaries less ambiguous, wherever possible CDP
boundaries should follow visible and identifiable features. The use of visible features
makes it easier to locate and identify CDP boundaries over time as the locations of many
visible features in the landscape tend to change infrequently. The Census Bureau permits
the use of incorporated place and MCD boundaries in states where those boundaries tend
to remain unchanged over time (refer to Table 1 in Chapter 2).
However, reliance upon visible features sometimes has resulted in overbounding of the
existing CDPs in order to include housing units on both sides of a road or street feature,
in fringe areas where no close boundary features exist. While this has helped ensure
accurate allocation of housing units to the place, it also has meant that territory,
population, and housing not associated with the place have been included in the CDP.
For Census 2010, advances and enhancements in the positional accuracy of housing units
within the Census Bureau’s geographic databases make it possible to consider the
potential use of non-visible boundaries (both questionable and not acceptable) when
defining CDPs.

Figure 15: The Census Bureau has frequently received comments from data users that CDPs in previous
censuses tended to be too large, or overbounded, and did not truly represent the place indicated. For past
censuses the Census Bureau required that participants use linear features that were relatively easy to
locate and/or visible in the field to make up the boundaries of CDPs, and this tended to cause the
overbounding of CDPs. Although the Census Bureau suggests participants still use visible features as
CDP boundaries whenever possible, to help remedy the overbounding of CDPs the Census Bureau is
allowing the use, and if needed, creation of non-visible features to be used specifically as CDP
boundaries. This example shows a somewhat overbounded CDP that may benefit from the addition of a
non-visible feature. A non-visible line running almost west to east was added between the ends of two
streams in the top middle portion of the CDP. A boundary change was then performed to the CDP to
take advantage of this newly added non-visible line feature. Please note that the non-visible line that was
added is symbolized in "fuzzy" red as unacceptable to discourage its use as a statistical area boundary.

Before

After

The Census Bureau also permits the use of state and county boundaries in all states, and
permits the use of incorporated place and MCD boundaries in states where those
boundaries tend to remain unchanged over time.

5.3 Reviewing and Revising Existing CDPs and Adding New CDPs
The Census Bureau requests that participants review all the CDPs in the county or
counties the participant agreed to cover for the 2010 PSAP, and delineate new CDPs
where an unincorporated community exists but was not a 2000 CDP. When updating
Census 2000 CDPs and defining new CDPs, the proposed CDPs must meet Census 2010
criteria, including the minimum population and housing unit requirements, naming
conventions, and concept guidelines. Contact your RCC if you need additional guidance
on potential new CDPs in your county.
Concept Guidelines
To the extent possible, individual unincorporated communities should be identified as
separate CDPs. Similarly, a single community should be defined as a single CDP rather
than multiple CDPs with each part referencing the community name and a directional
term (i.e., north, south, east, or west).
Additionally, CDPs should consist of a contiguous cluster of census blocks comprising a
single piece of territory and containing a mix of residential and commercial uses similar
to that of an incorporated place of similar size. Some CDPs, however, may be
predominantly residential; such places should represent recognizably distinct, locally
known communities, but not typical suburban subdivisions. Examples of such
predominantly residential communities that can be recognized as CDPs are colonias
found along the United States-Mexico border, small rural communities, and
unincorporated retirement communities.
A CDP may be defined for special areas, such as resorts, migrant labor camps, and
seasonal communities, but only for those with non-institutional population. Institutional
population includes people under formally authorized and supervised care or custody
such as correctional facilities, hospitals, and nursing homes. The Census Bureau will not
accept CDPs defined only to include institutions, and encourages that CDPs exclude
institutional population because patients or inmates usually have very little social contact
with the remaining community. Participants should include other special areas, such as
college campuses and agricultural dormitory areas within CDPs because these residents
freely interact with the community.
Updating Census 2000 CDPs
Some CDPs delineated for prior censuses met the criteria in effect at the time of their
delineation but no longer represent the type of areas the Census Bureau hopes to capture
for Census 2010. The Census Bureau requests that participants review all the CDPs in
their area for their continued existence and relevance as a CDP.
The Census Bureau requests that participants carefully review those Census 2000 CDPs
that lost land area as a result of an incorporation or annexation of a nearby incorporated

place to assure the CDP remains contiguous and relevant. If more than 50% of a Census
2000 CDPs’ area or population was annexed by an adjacent incorporated place, the CDP
was removed from the MTDB, and therefore the CDP will not exist in any Census
Bureau products and will not be available for review and update in the PSAP MTPS.
Additionally, if a community defined as a Census 2000 CDP has incorporated, that
community is now an incorporated place and will no longer be available for review and
update through the PSAP 21 .
To assist in this review, the Census Bureau is providing the PSAP MTPS that highlights
and provides the appropriate tools to edit those CDPs that do not meet the minimum
population/housing unit count and those CDPs that are noncontiguous. The Census
Bureau requires that local participants provide a justification where the CDP does not
meet the criteria. Valid justifications for CDPs that do not meet the criteria are as
follows:
1. CDP is below the minimum housing unit guidelines (<10 housing unit)
Includes group quarters
New housing units built since 2000 (will meet threshold)
Includes area for new planned housing units (pre-2015)
Housing unit counts provided are incorrect
2. CDP is noncontiguous
Military installation excluded
CDP has two or more separate populated centers, but is considered one
community
CDP is too large if contiguous
CDP is split by an incorporated place boundary (e.g., in areas where a city
annexed a corporate corridor that splits a community)
Additionally, the PSAP MTPS contains tools to edit existing CDP boundaries, create new
CDPs, remove CDPs that are no longer relevant, edit CDP names, and review and edit
CDP boundaries that follow questionable and unacceptable features.
5.3.1 Editing CDP Boundaries/Area
Participants may add a new CDP where a community exists in the landscape and a CDP
has not already been delineated for that community. To reflect the current existence and
area extent of the CDP, area can be added to or removed from an existing CDP. When a
CDP delineated for a previous census is no longer in existence or is no longer relevant
(e.g., the majority of the population of the CDP was annexed by an adjacent incorporated
place), the participant should remove the CDP. Using the provided TerraServer imagery
in the PSAP MTPS may help participants in determining the extent and boundaries of a
CDP.
21

Incorporated place boundaries are updated through the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS), an
annual survey conducted by the Census Bureau to collect and maintain information on the inventory, status,
boundaries, and names of all governmental units.

The Census Bureau will review each CDP on its own merit, but we request that
participants specifically review their CDPs that capture large areas of undeveloped
territory yielding a CDP with overall low population density. With no population or
housing unit requirements it is not necessary to overbound a CDP or to group two or
more separate and distinct communities together as one CDP. In some cases, a planned
community may have a completed network of dense road patterns, but only some sections
may be inhabited. The CDP should contain only the built-up portion of communities.
The Census Bureau also may define CDPs in instances where clear evidence of a place
exists but where local statistical areas participants did not submit a proposed CDP.
Editing the boundaries/area of existing Census Designated Places
A Census 2000 CDP should be revised where the community has changed, i.e., expanded
(increased in area) or contracted (decreased in area) in the landscape since 2000. Where
the community has expanded, area should be added to the CDP, and where the
community has contracted, area should be removed from the CDP. The same CDP can
experience both expansion and contraction, and therefore area can be added to and
removed from the same CDP.
Where necessary, add non-visible features to capture the extent of the community without
overbounding.
Delineating New Census Designated Places
A proposed new 2010 CDPs should include the entire developed area of a community
and exclude, to the greatest extent possible, large areas of undeveloped or
underdeveloped territory. CDPs may not contain area already within an incorporated
place or another CDP. It is not the intent of the CDP program to identify housing
subdivisions, apartment complexes, or individual neighborhoods within larger
communities where the larger community is known locally by name.

Figure 16: The Census Bureau strongly encourages the creation of new CDPs as long as they meet the
criteria and guidelines. Data users, rightfully so, often make comments that they can't find data for a
"place" in Census Bureau products. The Census Bureau only lists places in its data products where
legal incorporated place boundaries have been officially reported to the Census Bureau or where CDPs
have been delineated. Local knowledge is required to accurately define a CDP, so CDPs are primarily
defined by participants in PSAP. If participants do not define CDPs during PSAP and the place is not
incorporated, the Census Bureau does not have a program for creating new CDPs between decennial
censuses, and thus no data will be published for the "place" for at least another decade. In this
example, a CDP is newly created to define the boundaries of a place so the Census Bureau will publish
data for it. This is a good example of a place because it contains both housing units and population, is
based around a commercial center, contains higher population, housing unit, and street densities than
the areas adjacent to it, and is locally and historically known as a distinct community with an
unambiguous name.

Before

After

Deleting Census Designated Places
A Census 2000 CDP should be deleted if it is no longer in existence (e.g., the housing
units have been demolished, there is no population). Additionally, a Census 2000 CDP
should be deleted if it is no longer relevant, e.g., lost the majority of its land area as a
result of an incorporation or annexation of a nearby incorporated place, or the densely
populated center of the CDP has incorporated or been annexed by a nearby incorporated
place.
Editing Census Designated Place Boundaries
Working by CDP, review all not acceptable and questionable boundary features.
Where possible and appropriate, correct all not acceptable boundary features by either
selecting an acceptable nearby feature to serve as the new CDP boundary or by correcting
the type of feature shown in the PSAP MTPS. The acceptable nearby features may
already be in the MTDB (and present in the PSAP MTPS shapefiles) or may need to be
added in the MTPS. As time permits, also correct questionable features that require
correction. A CDP may follow a questionable or not acceptable boundary feature in
instances where reliance upon acceptable or other questionable features will result in
overbounding the CDP.
Prioritize editing not acceptable and questionable boundary features where housing units
will be affected by the boundary change (i.e., editing the boundary so that it follows an
acceptable feature will encompass more or fewer housing units). As time permits, edit
the not acceptable and questionable boundary features that will not affect housing units.
Additionally, participants should adjust the CDP boundaries as necessary to resolve
situations resulting from annexations and detachments by incorporated places.
5.3.2 Revising CDP Names
The Census Bureau requests that participants review the names of all CDPs established
prior to Census 2000. CDPs cannot have the same name as an incorporated place or
another CDP in the same county.
Since a CDP is defined to provide data for a single named locality, the Census Bureau
does not encourage CDPs that comprise a combination of places, or CDPs identified by
multiple, hyphenated names. For example, CDPs such as Poplar-Cotton Center and
Downieville-Lawson-Dumont are no longer acceptable. If a Census 2000 CDP has a
multiple, hyphenated name, determine if there is some way to divide the Census 2000
CDP to recognize each community separately for Census 2010.
However, where communities have become so intertwined that the communities are
commonly perceived and referenced as a single place, it is acceptable to have one CDP
defined for these communities, and identified with a hyphenated CDP name. For
example, the communities of Arden and Arcade in California have grown together over
time and residents commonly use the place name Arden-Arcade. Further, because of the
63

intertwined identity, residents would have difficulty identifying a boundary between the
separate, historical communities of Arden and Arcade. Multiple communities also may
be defined as a single CDP when there is no distinguishable or suitable feature in the
landscape that can be used as a boundary between the communities, even if the two
communities still have separate identities. For example, the CDP of Ashton-Sandy
Spring in Maryland encompasses two communities that still maintain separate identities
in common, daily usage. The two communities, however, have grown together to such an
extent that a clear break between the two communities is no longer identifiable in the
landscape. In general, when considering whether to combine multiple communities as a
single CDP, the following questions should be taken into account: Do residents
commonly perceive and refer to the communities as a single entity? Are there landscape
elements, such as signs, that use a hyphenated name for the community? Can residents or
other knowledgeable individuals identify clear, commonly accepted boundaries for the
individual communities?
Participants should also review all CDPs that use a name referencing a nearby
incorporated place/municipality appended with a suffixed directional (“north,” “south,”
“east,” “west,” and so forth). In many cases local participants delineated these types of
CDPs to serve as an extension of the built-up portions of incorporated places immediately
beyond the corporate limits. Often residents do not use a unique name for this type of
community, usually identifying themselves as associated with the incorporated
municipality even though they live outside the corporate limits.
It is permissible to change the name of a Census 2000 CDP for Census 2010 if the new
name provides a better identification of the community.

5.4 CDPs on Federally Recognized American Indian Reservations and
Off-Reservation Trust Lands
CDPs are delineated through both the PSAP and the TSAP for Census 2010. Federally
recognized tribes with AIRs, ORTLs, or Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Areas (OTSAs) may
update or delineate new CDPs on those geographic areas through the TSAP. Tribes that
would like to delineate CDPs for communities completely off AIRs, ORTLs, and/or
OTSAs will work with the PSAP participants for the areas in which they are interested.
Where CDPs are updated or delineated through the PSAP and the TSAP for the same
community, and there are discrepancies in the aerial extent of (i.e., boundaries) for the
CDP and/or the name of the CDP, the RCC will work with the PSAP primary participant
and the TSAP participant to create an acceptable 2010 CDP that accommodates the needs
of both participating organizations.

5.5 Geographic Relationship Between CDPs and Legal Entities
There are CDPs that are coextensive with governmentally active MCDs, or “whole-town”
CDPs, in the twelve states that contain governmentally functioning MCDs, the six New
England states, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and
Wisconsin.

The Census Bureau encourages participants to remove these “whole-town” CDPs where
they exist, and instead define a CDPs to capture the community or communities within
the MCD that encompasses a distinct geography from which more meaningful data can
be tabulated.

5.6 CDPs in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico does not contain incorporated places by the Census Bureau’s definition. In
Puerto Rico, zonas urbanas and comunidades serve the statistical function of places,
equivalent to CDPs in the United States.
Zonas urbanas are delineated to encompass the urban core of the municipio, based on the
barrio-pueblo or governmental center of each municipio. Aerially, every zona urbana is
equal to or larger than the barrio-pueblo that forms its core. The zona urbana boundaries
are drawn to follow visible features and/or the limits of a municipio or barrio. The
boundaries of zonas urbanas may be revised to reflect changes to the development around
the barrio-pueblo, but they may not extend beyond their municipio. Comunidades are
delineated to encompass other types of unincorporated communities throughout Puerto
Rico.
When editing the name of an existing zona urbana or comunidad, or creating a new zona
urbana or comunidad, append zona urbana (or “ZA”) to the zona urbana name, and
comunidad (or "comun") to the comunidad name.

6. Census County Divisions (CCDs)
The Census Bureau is offering local data users the opportunity to review and update
CCDs for use in the tabulation and presentation of data from the decennial census and the
ACS after 2010. The primary goal of the CCD program is to establish and maintain a set
of subcounty units that have stable boundaries and recognizable names. A CCD usually
represents one or more communities, trading centers, or, in some instances, major land
uses. CCDs are statistical areas established cooperatively by the Census Bureau and
officials of state and local governments in 21 states where MCDs either do not exist or
are unsatisfactory for reporting decennial census data.
CCDs exist in the following states 22 :
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Kentucky
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Oklahoma
Oregon
South Carolina Texas
Utah
Washington
Wyoming
The Census Bureau is providing these guidelines for use by statistical areas participants
in the review and revision, if necessary, of existing Census 2000 CCDs. This chapter, as
well as Chapter 2 (Statistical Area Boundary Feature Criteria), is for all participants
reviewing CCDs.
The methods for submitting boundaries for CTs and CCDs are complementary. Because
CCDs have a relationship to CTs, and many CCDs are groupings of several contiguous
CTs, the Census Bureau suggests participants review Chapter 3 (Census Tracts) before
proceeding with the review and delineation of CCDs. Refer to the PSAP MTPS User
Guide for specific delineation and submission instructions.
For information about the history of CCDs Refer to Appendix C - Statistical Areas
History.

6.1 CCD Coverage
CCDs are established within counties or equivalent areas in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona,
California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana,
Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington,
and Wyoming (i.e., complete coverage in states that have CCDs). CCDs generally
contain a CT or a group of contiguous CTs. In rare instances, two CCDs comprise one
CT.

CCDs previously existed in Tennessee, however for 2010 and beyond Tennessee will use their county
commissioner districts as MCDs. These county commissioner districts, legal entities defined for the
purpose of electing county commissioners, are redefined after each decennial census and their boundaries
generally remain stable and unchanged through the decade.

6.2 CCD Criteria
The Census Bureau published the CCD criteria for Census 2010 in the Federal Register,
which is available at: .
The Census Bureau establishes and maintains CCDs for statistical purposes and does not
tailor our criteria or attempt to anticipate any non-statistical uses that may be made of
their definitions. CCDs are not designed to meet the requirements of any non-statistical
programs, including the programs of other government agencies.
The Census Bureau will not modify the CCD criteria to meet the requirements of any
non-statistical program, or accept, as justification for an exception to or exemption from
the CCD criteria, the use of these areas in any non-statistical program.
6.2.1 Population and Housing Units
There are no minimum or maximum population/housing unit thresholds for defining
CCDs. Insofar as possible, CCDs that are new for Census 2010 should have a
population/housing unit count of at least 1,200 people/640 housing units, the minimum
population/housing units of a CT. However, in less populated counties CCDs may
subdivide CTs, and therefore provide data for smaller geographic areas and populations.
6.2.2 Comparability
The Census Bureau does not encourage major revisions to CCDs since the primary goal
of the CCD program is to establish and maintain a set of subcounty units that have stable
boundaries and recognizable names that allows for data comparability from decade to
decade. The boundaries of CCDs usually coincide with visible features or stable,
significant legal boundaries, such as the boundary of an AIR, federally managed land, or
conjoint incorporated places.
However, updates and revisions may be necessary in some instances, for example where
there have been revisions to CT boundaries and the CCD boundaries follows the CT
boundaries, or to resolve discrepancies where the CCD boundaries and CT boundaries
were supposed to be conjoint but were not. Additionally, revisions to CCD names may be
necessary due to population changes within CCDs.
6.2.3 CCD Identifiers (Names)
CCD names should clearly identify the extent of the CCD. A CCD usually is named after
the largest population center or historically central place within it (e.g., Taos, Chimayo,
or Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico). Where a CCD contains multiple centers with
relatively equal importance, a CCD name may represent the two or three centers (e.g.,
Mount Pleasant-Moroni, Utah). A CCD may be named after the AIR (e.g., Hualapai,
Arizona or Nez Perce, Idaho) or a prominent land use area (e.g., Federal Reservation,
Washington or Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming) in which it is partially or wholly
located. A CCD may be named after a prominent physical feature (e.g., Mount Rainier,
Washington) or a distinctive region within the county (e.g., Death Valley, California;
Everglades and Lower Keys, Florida). If there is no clear cultural focus or topographic

name that can be applied, a CCD name shall consist of the county name and a compass
direction to indicate the portion of the county in the CCD or a place name and a compass
direction to give the CCD location relative to the place. The directional indicator should
precede a county name (e.g., Northeast Cobb, Georgia). If a place name is used, the
directional indicator should follow it (e.g., Del Rio Northwest, Texas).

Figure 17: CCDs are intended to be centered around one or more communities or places, or around a
specific major land use area. In addition, CCDs should primarily be named after these communities or
major land uses that define them. In this example, the first CCD is based around a specific major land
use area, Yellowstone National Park, and thus its name reflects the fact: Yellowstone National Park
CCD. The second CCD is based around a couple of places, specifically Port Angeles city and Port
Angeles East CDP, and thus the CCD is named accordingly: Port Angeles CCD.

The names of existing CCDs should not be changed unless there is a compelling reason
to do so, such as when the name from which the CCD was derived has changed, as in the
case of Bainbridge Island, Washington, when the name of the city (Winslow) changed.
6.2.4 CCD Boundary Features
The Census Bureau requires CCD boundaries to follow state and county boundaries.
CCD boundaries should follow CT boundaries since CCDs should contain one or more
contiguous CTs, or, in less populated counties two or more CCDs should comprise one
CT.
Where CCD boundaries do not follow CT boundaries, they should follow visible and
identifiable features. The use of visible features makes it easier to locate and identify
CCD boundaries over time as the locations of many visible features in the landscape tend
to change infrequently. The Census Bureau permits the use of incorporated place and
MCD boundaries in states where those boundaries tend to remain unchanged over time
(refer to Table 1 in Chapter 2).

6.3 Reviewing and Revising Existing CCDs
The Census Bureau requests that participants review all CCDs in the county or counties
the participant agreed to cover for the 2010 PSAP. Participants should complete their
review and revision of CTs before reviewing and editing CCDs
To assist in this review, the Census Bureau is providing the PSAP MTPS that highlights
and provides the appropriate tools to edit those CCDs that are non-contiguous. The
Census Bureau requires that local participants provide a justification where the CCD does
not meet the criteria. A valid justification for a CCD that is noncontiguous is “County is
noncontiguous”. Additionally the PSAP MTPS provides tools to edit the boundaries of
the CCD and to change the CCD name.
Relationship with CTs
The Census Bureau recommends that CCD boundaries conform to CT boundaries;
specifically a CCD should contain one or more CTs, or in areas in less populated counties
CCDs may subdivide CTs. The boundaries of a CCD, or combination of nested CCDs,
should align with CT boundaries. Note that a county with a population less than the
optimum population for a CT (less than 4,000 people) may contain more CCDs than CTs.
For example, McCone County, Montana, which has a 2006 estimated population of
1,760, contains only one CT, but is divided into two CCDs.
Review the CCD boundaries carefully to identify small areas where the CCD boundaries
and CT boundaries are not conjoint but should be. Participants must correct these
situations by adjusting the CCD boundary.

Figure 18: Although in many counties CCDs existed before census tracts were delineated, it is the
intention of the Census Bureau that CCDs and census tracts should be related in a county; specifically
in counties with higher populations CCDs should include more than one entire census tract, or in
counties with lower populations census tracts should include more than entire CCD. In this example,
three entire census tracts nest within one CCD.

Figure 19: Although in many counties CCDs existed before census tracts were delineated, it is the
intention of the Census Bureau that CCDs and census tracts should be related in a county; specifically
in counties with higher populations CCDs should include more than one entire census tract, or in
counties with lower populations census tracts should include more than entire CCD. In this example,
two entire CCDs nest within one census tract.

Relationship with communities and places
A CCD usually represents a single contiguous area consisting of one or more
communities, trading centers, or, in some instances, major land uses that are relatively
compact in shape.
The community (or communities) on which a CCD is centered usually is an incorporated
place or CDP and includes additional surrounding territory that is served by the
community or place. The definition of community should take into account factors such
as production, marketing, consumption, and the integrating factor of local institutions. In
some cases, the CCD may be centered on a major area of significantly different land use
or ownership, such as a large military base or AIR. In other situations, a CCD can
represent an area that is physiographically different from the rest of the county.
Census County Division names
Review the CCDs names to ensure that, for example, the place the CCD is named after is
within that CCD or is still the most populous place within that CCD. If a CCD name
contains a directional, participants also should verify that the CCD name follows the
guidelines for Census 2010 CCD names.
Census County Divisions with large populations
Participants may want to consider subdividing existing CCDs with a Census 2000
population of 500,000 or greater if the CCD comprises more than one distinct geographic
region or several well known areas of settlement. The resultant CCDs, however, should
continue to contain substantial population and must focus on distinct communities or
places.
Editing the boundaries of Census County Divisions
Edit CCD boundaries so that they follow CT boundaries and there is a clear relationship
between the CCD(s) and CT(s). If CCDs follow CT boundaries, participants need not
review the CCD boundaries separately to identify and resolve those CCD boundaries
which follow unacceptable or questionable features.
In the rare cases that CCD boundaries do not follow CT boundaries, review all not
acceptable and questionable boundary features.
Where possible and appropriate, correct all not acceptable boundary features by either
selecting an acceptable nearby feature to serve as the new CCD boundary or by
correcting the type of feature shown in the PSAP MTPS. The acceptable nearby features
may already be in the MTDB (and present in the PSAP MTPS shapefiles) or may need to
be added in the MTPS. As time permits, also correct questionable features that require
correction.
Prioritize editing not acceptable and questionable boundary features where housing units
will be affected by the boundary change (i.e., editing the boundary so that it follows an
acceptable feature will encompass more or fewer housing units). As time permits, edit
the not acceptable and questionable boundary features that will not affect housing units.
72

6.4 CCDs on Federally Recognized American Indian Reservations and
Off-Reservation Trust Lands
For Census 2000 American Indian area participants were responsible for delineating
CCDs on federally recognized AIRs and ORTLs. For Census 2010, PSAP participants
will review and update CCDs on AIRs and ORTLs. American Indian area participants
should participate in the PSAP process by working with the other PSAP participants to
delineate CCDs and other statistical areas directly affecting their AIRs/ORTLs.
Federally recognized tribes will delineate statistical areas specifically designed for the
collection, tabulation, and presentation of decennial census data for federally and/or staterecognized American Indian tribes through the TSAP.

7. Review and Approval of the Proposed Census 2010
Statistical Areas by the Census Bureau
For the PSAP primary participants that submit the requested statistical area delineation
for one county within 60 calendar days of receiving PSAP materials, the Census Bureau
will review the submission to ensure participants are successful in implementing the
PSAP criteria and guidelines, using the PSAP MTPS to review and edit statistical areas,
and generating proposed statistical area submissions. The Census Bureau will provide
feedback to the participant on their submission, and if necessary provide additional
guidance on the criteria and guidelines, and/or PSAP MTPS usage.
The deadline for submitting all statistical areas plans for CTs, BGs, CDPs, and
CCDs is 120 calendar days from the receipt of the materials provided by the Census
Bureau. The Census Bureau strongly encourages that participants submit their
statistical area plans as early as possible so that if there are issues with the submission
there is adequate time for the participant to resolve the issues. If participants submit their
statistical area plans at, or just before, the 120 day deadline and there are significant
issues with the submission, the Census Bureau may not have time for the participant to
resolve the issues and therefore may not be able to accept the statistical area plans.
Contact your RCC if you review your county or counties and determine that no updates
are required for one or more of your counties, or no updates are required for one or more
of the statistical areas within the county, e.g., CT and BG edits will be submitted to the
Census Bureau but there will be no CDP changes/submission (all CDPs in the county
should remain for 2010 unchanged).
The Census Bureau RCCs will verify that the submitted CT, BG, CDP, and CCD
proposals are complete, meet all criteria and other requirements and, where the criteria
have not been met, that a valid justification has been provided.
The Census Bureau will immediately reject any statistical area proposal that is not
based on the Census Bureau-supplied shapefiles, or not generated using the PSAP
MTPS.
If a submission cannot be opened, the Census Bureau will request that the participant
verify their submission files are complete and correct, and will request that the files be
resubmitted. If the submission is incomplete, does not meet the criteria, or contains some
unclear or questionable statistical area proposals, Census Bureau staff will work with the
participant to resolve these issues. In some cases, the Census Bureau will return the
proposal to the participant for reworking and resubmission.
After the Census Bureau determines the CT, BG, CDP, and/or CCD proposals meet all
requirements, the statistical area(s) will be inserted the MTDB. Post insertion, the
Census Bureau will conduct a second review of all statistical areas.

Throughout this process, if there are any questions, problems, concerns, or necessary
adjustments, Census Bureau staff will contact the participant and work with them to
resolve the situation(s).
The Census Bureau is responsible for ensuring nationwide consistency for CTs, BGs,
CDPs, and CCDs, and reserves the right to require, or to make, adjustments to statistical
areas boundaries, names, and identifiers that do not meet Census 2010 criteria. The
Census Bureau may modify, and if necessary reject, any proposed statistical areas that do
not comply with Census 2010 criteria.
The Census Bureau will notify the participant once the review and approval of the PSAP
proposal is completed. Under current plans, but subject to budget constraints, the Census
Bureau intends to provide PSAP participants an opportunity to verify the accuracy of
their statistical area boundaries, codes, and names as they appear in the MTDB before
their use in Census 2010 tabulations. The Census Bureau will provide further information
about the verification phase following the approval of the participant's statistical areas
proposal.

Appendix A – PSAP Glossary
American
Community Survey

ACS

American Indian
reservation

AIR

census block group

census block
numbering area

BNA

computer based
training
census county
division

CBT

census designated
place

CDP

census tract

geographic
information system

GIS

Hawaiian Home
Land

HHL

CCD

A new survey conducted by the Census Bureau. This survey uses a series of
monthly samples to produce annually updated data for the same small areas
(census tracts and block groups) as the decennial census long-form sample
formerly surveyed.
A type of legal geographic entity that is a recognized American Indian land
area with a boundary established by final treaty, statute, executive order,
and/or court order and over which the tribal government of a federally
recognized American Indian tribe (federal AIR) or a state recognized
American Indian tribe (state AIR) has governmental authority. Along with
reservation, designations such as colony, pueblo, rancheria, and reserve may
apply to AIRs.
Block groups are statistical geographic divisions of a census tract, defined for
the tabulation and dissemination of census data form Census 2010, as well
the American Community Survey (ACS) after Census 2010.
Prior to Census 2000, a statistical subdivision of a county or statistically
equivalent entity, delineated by a state government agency or a U.S. Census
Bureau regional census center for the purpose of grouping and numbering
census blocks in counties that did not have census tracts. BNAs were
discontinued for Census 2000; they were named as census tracts in every
county.
Interactive training for the PSAP MTPS provided as part of the PSAP MTPS
software.
Statistical geographic entities in 21 states where minor civil divisions either
do not exist or change too frequently for reporting census data. The primary
goal of the CCD program is to establish and maintain a set of subcounty units
that have stable boundaries and recognizable names. In most cases census
tracts should nest within CCDs, but in less populated counties CCDs should
nest within census tracts.
Statistical geographic entities representing closely settled, unincorporated
communities that are locally recognized and identified by name. They are
the statistical equivalents of incorporated places, with the primary differences
being the lack of both a legally-defined boundary and an active, functioning
governmental structure, chartered by the state and administered by elected
officials.
Relatively permanent, small-area, geographic divisions of a county or
statistically equivalent entity. The primary goal of the census tract program
is to provide a set of nationally consistent, small, statistical geographic units,
with stable boundaries that facilitate analysis of data across time.
A collection of computer hardware, software, and geographic data for
capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically
referenced information
An area held in trust for the benefit of native Hawaiians by the State of
Hawaii, pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as
amended.

Master Address
File/Topologically
Integrated
Geographic
Encoding and
Referencing System
Data Base

MTDB Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and
Referencing database, developed by the Census Bureau to support mapping
and related geographic activities.

MAF/TIGER
MTPS
Partnership Software

minor civil division

MCD

American Indian off ORTL
reservation trust land

Oklahoma tribal
statistical areas

OTSA

participant statistical PSAP
areas program

regional census
center

RCC

Tribal Statistical
Areas Program

TSAP

Software developed under contract for the Census Bureau to support
geographic update activities including the PSAP. Software will be
distributed to all participants. Census Bureau staff will train participants on
the use of this software package.
The primary governmental or administrative division of a county in many
states.
American Indian trust lands are areas for which the United States holds title
in trust for the benefit of an American Indian tribe or for an individual
American Indian. Trust land may be located on or off a reservation; however,
the Census Bureau recognizes and tabulates data only for off-reservation
trust land. Census data always associate off-reservation trust land with a
specific federally recognized reservation and/or tribal government.
Oklahoma tribal statistical areas (OTSAs) are statistical entities identified
and delineated by the Census Bureau in consultation with federally
recognized American Indian tribes in Oklahoma that do not currently have a
reservation, but once had a reservation in that state.
Participant Statistical Areas Program allows participants, following Census
Bureau guidelines and criteria, to review, update, and delineate new census
tracts (CTs), block groups (BGs), census designated places (CDPs) and
census county divisions (CCDs)
Temporary offices set up approximately two years prior to the decennial
census. The geographic staff from the permanent Regional Offices are
assigned to the RCCs.
The Tribal Statistical Areas Program, a decennial program of the Census
Bureau, is part of an ongoing effort to enhance the reporting of meaningful
statistical data for American Indian and Alaska Native areas. Through the
program, tribes have the opportunity to identify and delineate the geographic
statistical areas and block boundaries for which the Census Bureau will
tabulate data for Census 2010 and the ongoing American Community Survey
(ACS) after 2010. The statistical areas that can be defined through the PSAP
include: Alaska Native village statistical areas (ANVSAs), Oklahoma tribal
statistical areas (OTSAs), OTSA tribal subdivisions, tribal designated
statistical areas (TDSAs), state designated tribal statistical areas (SDTSAs),
tribal census tracts, tribal block groups, and CDPs.

Appendix B – Regional Census Center contact information
Atlanta RCC: Geography
285 Peachtree Center Avenue NE
Marquis II Tower, Suite 1000
Atlanta, GA 30303-1230
Phone: (404) 332-2711
Fax: (404) 331-1570
E-mail: atlanta.geography@census.gov