2022 Cartographic Boundary File (SHP), Current Block Group for Delaware, 1:500,000

The 2022 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.

Block Groups (BGs) are clusters of blocks within the same census tract. Each census tract contains at least one BG, and BGs are uniquely numbered within census tracts. BGs have a valid code range of 0 through 9. BGs have the same first digit of their 4-digit census block number from the same decennial census. For example, tabulation blocks numbered 3001, 3002, 3003,.., 3999 within census tract 1210.02 are also within BG 3 within that census tract. BGs coded 0 are intended to only include water area, no land area, and they are generally in territorial seas, coastal water, and Great Lakes water areas. Block groups generally contain between 600 and 3,000 people. A BG usually covers a contiguous area but never crosses county or census tract boundaries. They may, however, cross the boundaries of other geographic entities like county subdivisions, places, urban areas, voting districts, congressional districts, and American Indian / Alaska Native / Native Hawaiian areas.

The generalized BG boundaries in this release are based on those that were delineated as part of the Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) for the 2020 Census.

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."]
bbox-east-long -75.048939
bbox-north-lat 39.839007
bbox-south-lat 38.451013
bbox-west-long -75.788658
contact-email geo.geography@census.gov
coupled-resource []
dataset-reference-date [{"type": "publication", "value": "2023-04"}, {"type": "creation", "value": "2023-04"}, {"type": "lastUpdate", "value": "2023-04"}]
frequency-of-update notPlanned
guid cb_2022_10_bg_500k.shp.iso.xml
licence []
metadata-date 2023-04
metadata-language eng; USA
metadata_type geospatial
old-spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-75.788658, 38.451013], [-75.048939, 38.451013], [-75.048939, 39.839007], [-75.788658, 39.839007], [-75.788658, 38.451013]]]}
progress completed
resource-type dataset
responsible-party [{"name": "U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Customer Engagement Branch", "roles": ["pointOfContact"]}]
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-75.788658, 38.451013], [-75.048939, 38.451013], [-75.048939, 39.839007], [-75.788658, 39.839007], [-75.788658, 38.451013]]]}
spatial-reference-system urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4269
spatial_harvester true
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • 2022
  • AmeriGEO
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • CKAN
  • GEO
  • GEOSS
  • National
  • North America
  • United States
  • block group
  • cartographic boundary
  • census tract
  • county
  • de
  • delaware
  • generalized
  • shp
isopen False
metadata_created 2025-09-23T22:18:38.115591
metadata_modified 2025-09-23T22:18:38.115597
notes The 2022 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. Block Groups (BGs) are clusters of blocks within the same census tract. Each census tract contains at least one BG, and BGs are uniquely numbered within census tracts. BGs have a valid code range of 0 through 9. BGs have the same first digit of their 4-digit census block number from the same decennial census. For example, tabulation blocks numbered 3001, 3002, 3003,.., 3999 within census tract 1210.02 are also within BG 3 within that census tract. BGs coded 0 are intended to only include water area, no land area, and they are generally in territorial seas, coastal water, and Great Lakes water areas. Block groups generally contain between 600 and 3,000 people. A BG usually covers a contiguous area but never crosses county or census tract boundaries. They may, however, cross the boundaries of other geographic entities like county subdivisions, places, urban areas, voting districts, congressional districts, and American Indian / Alaska Native / Native Hawaiian areas. The generalized BG boundaries in this release are based on those that were delineated as part of the Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) for the 2020 Census.
num_resources 4
num_tags 17
title 2022 Cartographic Boundary File (SHP), Current Block Group for Delaware, 1:500,000