Metadata for dataset /pub/data/georef/zcta_master

Click on variable name to scroll to its description:

state | zcta5 | fipco | county | fipco2 | county2 | placefp | placename | placefp2 | cousubfp | cousubfp2 | cd108 | cd108_2 | county2002 | msacmsa | msacmsaname | pmsa | pmsaname | necma | necmaname | cbsa | cbsaname | metrodiv | metrodivname | csa | csaname | cbsatype | ua | uaname | pcturban | region | division | pctcnty | pctcnty2 | pctcnty2002 | pctcousub | pctplace | pctplace2 | pctua | pctcd108 | pctmsacmsa | pctpmsa | uatype | popcentrlat | popcentrlon | landsqmi | zipname | logrecno | intptlat | intptlon | pop2k | hus2k | medianhhinc | meanpovratio | avghvalue | medianhhincx | meanpovratiox | avghvaluex | appsurl | zipfips_state |


state
FIPS state code. This code combined with the ZIP code (ZCTA5) are the keys for the dataset. In a few rare cases (59, to be exact), a ZCTA crosses state lines. In each of those cases there is a primary state where more than 95% of the ZCTA's population live, and then a "sliver" of the ZCTA that crosses into another state. See also
zipfips_state. All the geocodes in the observation (counties, places, etc) are within this state.

zcta5
ZIP Census Tabulation Area. If you are not familiar with this entity see the
ZCTAs section of the MCDC's fipco.
Primary County FIPS code (2000). The "primary" county means the one that has the largest intersection (based on 2000 census population) with the ZCTA. In about 72% of the cases there is only a single county in which the ZCTA is located, in which case this is the county.

county
Primary County (2000). See previous entry. This variable displays/exports as the name of the county (but is stored on the dataset as the 5-digit FIPS code).

fipco2
Secondary county FIPS code. If the ZIP code crosses county boundaries then this variable will contain the FIPS county code for the secondary county.

county2
This variable displays/exports as the name of the secondary county (but is stored on the dataset as the 5-digit FIPS code).

placefp
Primary place code. There are 3 kinds of entities that can be identified here: incorporated areas, Census Designated Places (CDPs), and other unincorporated areas. The latter is indicated by a pseudo-code of 99999.

placename
Displays/exports as the name of the primary place. Blank for non-place unincorporated areas. This item is stored on the dataset as a 7-character code - State concatenated with PlaceFP except when PlaceFP is 99999 in which case it is stored as a blank.

placefp2
Secondary place code. If the ZCTA intersects with more than one place then the secondary place is identified by this FIPS code. Again, 99999 is used to indicated unincorporated and outside andy CDP.

cousubfp
Primary County Subdiv code (MCD). A county subdivision can be called different things in different states. In Missouri, they are called "townships" and in New England and the Mid Atlantic states they are called "towns".

cousubfp2
Secondary County Subdiv code. This code will be blank if the ZCTA is contained entirely in one county subdivision.

cd108
Primary 108th Congressional Dist . These are the codes used in the 2002 elections, after post-2k reapportionment.

cd108_2
Secondary Congressional Dist

county2002
Primary county (2002 defn). The other county codes in the dataset (County and County2) are the ones that were in effect as the 2000 census. But this code reflects some changes in the county codes that were made in the states of Colorado and Virginia. See
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/ctychng.html for details.

msacmsa
MSA/CMSA code (2000). Metropolitan Area code as defined at the time of the 2000 census. A value of 9999 indicates a non-metro area. MSA stands for "Metropolitan Statistical Area", but if that is what you are interested in you should know that there is also a "core-based" MSA entity which is defined using the CBSA code. The C in CMSA stands for "Consolidated". You can tell a CMSA from a simple MSA by checking the value of PMSA; if PMSA has a value of 9999 then you have an MSA, otherwise you have a CMSA.

msacmsaname
Displays/exports as the name of the metro area identified by MSACMSA. It is stored as the 4-digit code except when that code is 9999, in which case this variable has a blank value.

pmsa
Primary MSA code (2000). This variable will have a value of 9999 to indicate an area where no PMSA is defined. That could mean a non-metro area or it could mean a simple MSA area (as opposed to a CMSA).

pmsaname
This field displays/exports as the name of the PMSA code stored in variable PMSA. When PMSA has a value of 9999 this field is blank.

necma
New England County MA (NE only). This field is blank outside New England. Within New England (6 states comprising US Divsion 1: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) a value of 9999 indicates not in a NECMA, otherwise it contains a 4-digit code.

necmaname
Displays/exports as the name of the NECMA. Stored as the NECMA code except that when NECMA has a value of 9999 this field is blank.

cbsa
(Core based) Metropolitan/Micropolitan Statistical Area (2004). This field indicates the CBSA with which the ZIP has the greatest intersection. If the ZIP is 80% non-metro and 20% metro then this code will identify the metro area. A value of 99999 (the pseudo-code indicating not in any CBSA) will not appear here unless the ZIP is totally non-metro. See pctcbsa.

cbsaname
Displays/exports as the name of the CBSA identified by the cbsa field. If cbsa is 99999 then this field will be blank.

metrodiv
Metro Division (of CBSA - 2004). A few larger CBSAs have subdivisions called Metropolitan Divisions which are identified by this code. These are somewhat akin to a PMSA - a major subarea of a very, very large metro area. This code is usually blank.

metrodivname
Displays/exports as the name of the Metropolitan Division.

csa
Combined Statistical Area (CBSAs - 2004). This 3-digit code is blank when the county is not in a CSA.

csaname
Displays/exports as the name of the CSA. Stored as the 3-digit code (same as CSA).

cbsatype
Contains values 'Metro' or 'Micro' to indicate a Metropolitan Statistical Area (core-based definition) or a Micropolitan Statistical Area. Blank indicates it is neither.

ua
Urban Area/Urban Cluster (2000). This field indicates the Urbanized Area/Urban Cluster with which the ZIP has the greatest intersection. If the ZIP is 80% non-urban and 20% urban then this code will identify that urban area (where we use "urban area" here in the broader sense, which includes urban clusters). A blank value will not appear here unless the ZIP is totally non-urban. See pctua and PctUrban.

uaname
Displays/exports as the name of the Urbanized Area / Urban Cluster.

pcturban
% Urban in 2000 . This measure is based on summing block-level complete-count data. There is a table on Summary File 3 that provides a sample estimate of this value, which will not be the same as this value. This one is more accurate.

region
U.S. Region

division
U.S. Division

pctcnty
% of ZCTA's 2K pop in primary co.

pctcnty2
% of ZCTA's 2k pop in secondary co. Value is missing if the ZIP is in only 1 county.

pctcnty2002
% of ZCTA's 2k pop in County2002.

pctcousub
% of ZCTA's 2k pop in primary county subdivision.

pctplace
% of ZCTA's 2k pop in primary place

pctplace2
% of ZCTA's 2k pop in secondary place. If there is no secondary place (because the ZCTA is entirely within a single place) then this value will be missing.

pctua
% of ZCTA's 2k pop in UA . Specific to the Urbanzied Area / Urban Cluster identified by the ua/uaname fields. May not be the same value as PctUrban since a ZCTA could intersect with more than one UA.

pctcd108
% of ZCTA's 2k pop in cd108

pctmsacmsa
% of ZCTA's 2k pop in msacmsa. Note that if MSACMSA has a value of 9999 (indicating that the ZCTA is entirely non-metro) then this variable will have a value of 100. So this variable is not the percentage of the ZCTA population that is metropolitan. (To get that value you would need to replace the 100 value with a value of 0 when MSACMSA=9999.)

pctpmsa
% of ZCTA's 2k pop in PMSA . Very similar to the pctmsascmsa variable, described above.

uatype
UA type: UA or UC . This is the area-type code for the UA variable.

popcentrlat
Pop-weighted centroid latitude. We derived this value by taking the 2000-census-100%-pop-weighted average of all the blocks that make up the state-ZCTA5 area. Combined with popcentrlon, it provides an alternative population centroid of the area. This is in contrast to the intptlat, intptlon variables which are based on a spatial center point. Also, unlike the intptlat, intptlon point, the pop-weighted centroid could actually fall outside the polygon.

popcentrlon
Pop-weighted centroid longitude . See explanation of popcentrlat. Note that both these fields are measured in decimal degrees and have format codes indicating to display 6-digits after the decimal pt.

landsqmi
Land Area Sq Miles .

zipname

logrecno
SF3 key for sf3tabgen web app. This is a key field on the 2000 Summary File 3 national file. Use this value in a URL such as

http://mcdc2.missouri.edu/sasweb/cgi-bin/broker?_PROGRAM=websas.sf3tabgen.sas&_service=appdev&dataset=uszips&tables=P43%20H10&logrecno=453218
which will display the tables P43 and H10 (note the &tables= parm) for the ZCTA code defined with LogRecNo=453218 (01103 Springfield, MA). Way too technical for most users, but web developers should appreciate it.

intptlat
Internal Pt Latitude, degrees. This value provided directly on the Summary File 3 record for the ZCTA. See also popcentrlat.

intptlon
Internal Pt Longitude, degrees. This value provided directly on the Summary File 3 record for the ZCTA. See also popcentrlon.

pop2k
Total Pop (100% Count)-2k Census . Note that there is also a sample-based total pop figure for ZCTA's that you may see in some reports. That figure will almost always be slightly different than this (more accurate) 100% figure.

hus2k
Total Housing Units (100% Count)-2k Census. Note that there is also a sample-based total unit figure for ZCTA's that you may see in some reports. That figure will almost always be slightly different than this (more accurate) 100% figure. Note that housing units are not households - the latter correspond to occupied housing units.

medianhhinc
Median HH Income, 1999. This is based on the income question on the 2000 Census long form, where they asked about your income "last year".

meanpovratio
Mean Poverty Ratio . A statistic invented by the MCDC that attempts to reduce the information in the poverty ratio distribution table down to a single number representing the average person's poverty ratio. Not reliable for areas where most people are over twice the poverty threshold.

avghvalue
Average House Value . The average value of owner-occupied homes per the 2k census as estimated by the homeowner.

medianhhincx
Median HH Income Index . This is the median household income of the area as a percentage of the value for the entire United States ($41,994).

meanpovratiox
Mean Pov Ratio Index. This is the mean poverty ratip of the area as a percentage of the value for the entire United States (2.436).

avghvaluex
Avg House Value Index. This is the Average House Value of the area as a percentage of the value for the entire United States ($158,934).

appsurl
URL to access MCDC applinks page for ZCTA. Follow this URL to a dynamic web application that provides a menu of other dynamic web applications which provide data related to the ZCTA.

zipfips_state
State normally associated with ZIP -- will only contain a value when the value of the State variable is not state normally associated with the ZIP. When this variable has a value it indicates a relatively rare (just 59 cases nationwide, inluding some HH and XX pseudo-codes) instance of a ZIP code spilling over into a bordering state. All the geographic information on these observations pertain to the "spillover" state identified in the variable State, but census-based demographic data items such as pop2k and hus2k will be missing. All those demograhic fields are for the entire ZCTA, not just for the portions within any state. For most/many applications of this data you may want to filter out any observation where this field has a non-blank value.


Missouri Census Data Center

MCDC file: /pub/data/georef/zcta_master.Metadata.html
Metahtml run date: 14JUN06 . Editing completed 6/19/2006 1:49PM jgb.