Contents
What is census ZCTA?
ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are generalized areal representations of United States Postal Service (USPS) ZIP Code service areas. ZCTA is a trademark of the U.S. Census Bureau; ZIP Code is a trademark of the U.S. Postal Service.
What is the difference between a census tract and zip code?
Census tracts are polygons and cover a well-defined geographic area. ZIP codes are clusters of lines; the U.S. Postal Service does not define ZIP Code boundaries. Census tracts provide more granularity (73,000 areas) than ZIP Codes (43,000).
What is smaller than a census tract?
The “Census Tract” is an area roughly equivalent to a neighborhood established by the Bureau of Census for analyzing populations. A census tract is smaller than a City but larger than a Block Group or Census Block, see this hierarchical presentation.
Where does the ZIP code ZCTA come from?
ZCTA is a trademark of the U.S. Census Bureau; ZIP Code is a trademark of the U.S. Postal Service. The Census Bureau first examined all of the addresses within each census block to define the list of ZIP Codes by block.
What do ZCTAs stand for in the census?
For the Census 2000 ZCTAs the Census Bureau created ZCTAs that ended in “XX” to represent large areas of land without ZIP Codes or “HH” to represent large areas of water without ZIP Codes. For the 2010 Census, large water bodies and large unpopulated land areas do not have ZCTAs.
As only the intersections between the two entities are shown in the relationship file, the sum of the part columns for all records representing a specific ZCTA or metropolitan/micropolitan statistical area may not add up to the totals for the ZCTA or metropolitan/micropolitan statistical area.
How does the ZCTA relationship file work for Congress?
As only the intersections between the two entities are shown in the relationship file, the sum of the part columns for all records representing a specific ZCTA or congressional district may not add up to the totals for the ZCTA or congressional district.