2015 Cartographic Boundary File, Metropolitan Statistical Area/Micropolitan Statistical Area for United States, 1:500,000

The 2015 cartographic boundary shapefiles are simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). These boundary files are specifically designed for small-scale thematic mapping. When possible, generalization is performed with the intent to maintain the hierarchical relationships among geographies and to maintain the alignment of geographies within a file set for a given year. Geographic areas may not align with the same areas from another year. Some geographies are available as nation-based files while others are available only as state-based files.

Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas are together termed Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) and are defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and consist of the county or counties or equivalent entities associated with at least one urban core (urbanized area or urban cluster) of at least 10,000 population, plus adjacent counties having a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured through commuting ties with the counties containing the core. Categories of CBSAs are: Metropolitan Statistical Areas, based on urbanized areas of 50,000 or more population; and Micropolitan Statistical Areas, based on urban clusters of at least 10,000 population but less than 50,000 population.

The CBSAs boundaries are those defined by OMB based on the 2010 Census and published in 2013.

Data and Resources

Field Value
access_constraints [" Access Constraints: None", " Use Constraints:The intended display scale for this file is 1:500,000. This file should not be displayed at scales larger than 1:500,000.\n\nThese products are free to use in a product or publication, however acknowledgement must be given to the U.S. Census Bureau as the source. The boundary information is for visual display at appropriate small scales only. Cartographic boundary files should not be used for geographic analysis including area or perimeter calculation. Files should not be used for geocoding addresses. Files should not be used for determining precise geographic area relationships.\n"]
bbox-east-long 179.77847
bbox-north-lat 71.365162
bbox-south-lat -14.548699
bbox-west-long -179.148909
coupled-resource []
dataset-reference-date [{"type": "publication", "value": "201603"}]
frequency-of-update notPlanned
guid cb_2015_us_cbsa_500k.shp.iso.xml
licence []
metadata-date 2016-03
metadata-language eng
metadata_type geospatial
old-spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-179.148909, -14.548699], [179.77847, -14.548699], [179.77847, 71.365162], [-179.148909, 71.365162], [-179.148909, -14.548699]]]}
progress completed
resource-type dataset
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-179.148909, -14.548699], [179.77847, -14.548699], [179.77847, 71.365162], [-179.148909, 71.365162], [-179.148909, -14.548699]]]}
spatial_harvester true
temporal-extent-begin 2016-03
temporal-extent-end 2016-03
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • 2015
  • AmeriGEO
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • CKAN
  • GEO
  • GEOSS
  • National
  • North America
  • United States
  • boundaries
  • cartographic boundary
  • generalized
  • metropolitan statistical area
  • micropolitan statistical area
  • shp
  • united states
  • us
isopen False
metadata_created 2025-09-23T16:00:11.432093
metadata_modified 2025-09-23T16:00:11.432101
notes The 2015 cartographic boundary shapefiles are simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). These boundary files are specifically designed for small-scale thematic mapping. When possible, generalization is performed with the intent to maintain the hierarchical relationships among geographies and to maintain the alignment of geographies within a file set for a given year. Geographic areas may not align with the same areas from another year. Some geographies are available as nation-based files while others are available only as state-based files. Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas are together termed Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) and are defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and consist of the county or counties or equivalent entities associated with at least one urban core (urbanized area or urban cluster) of at least 10,000 population, plus adjacent counties having a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured through commuting ties with the counties containing the core. Categories of CBSAs are: Metropolitan Statistical Areas, based on urbanized areas of 50,000 or more population; and Micropolitan Statistical Areas, based on urban clusters of at least 10,000 population but less than 50,000 population. The CBSAs boundaries are those defined by OMB based on the 2010 Census and published in 2013.
num_resources 2
num_tags 17
title 2015 Cartographic Boundary File, Metropolitan Statistical Area/Micropolitan Statistical Area for United States, 1:500,000