Series Information File for the 2017 TIGER/Line Shapefile, Current Block Group State-based

The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation.

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 5001, 5002, 5005,.., 5999 within census tract 1210.02 are also within BG 5 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 5,000 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 BG boundaries in this release are those that were delineated as part of the Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) for the 2010 Census.

Data and Resources

Field Value
access_constraints [" Access Constraints: None", " Use Constraints:The TIGER/Line Shapefile products are not copyrighted however TIGER/Line and Census TIGER are registered trademarks of the U.S. Census Bureau. These products are free to use in a product or publication, however acknowledgement must be given to the U.S. Census Bureau as the source.\nThe boundary information in the TIGER/Line Shapefiles are for statistical data collection and tabulation purposes only; their depiction and designation for statistical purposes does not constitute a determination of jurisdictional authority or rights of ownership or entitlement and they are not legal land descriptions.Coordinates in the TIGER/Line shapefiles have six implied decimal places, but the positional accuracy of these coordinates is not as great as the six decimal places suggest."]
bbox-east-long 179.859681
bbox-north-lat 71.441059
bbox-south-lat -14.601813
bbox-west-long -179.231086
collection_metadata true
coupled-resource []
dataset-reference-date [{"type": "publication", "value": "2017"}]
frequency-of-update notPlanned
graphic-preview-description URL for the TigerWeb Web Mapping Service
graphic-preview-file https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/services/TIGERweb/tigerWMS_ACS2017/MapServer/WmsServer?REQUEST=GetMap&SERVICE=WMS&VERSION=1.3.0&LAYERS=Census Block Groups,Census Block Groups Labels&STYLES=default,default&FORMAT=image/svg+xml&BGCOLOR=0xFFFFFF&TRANSPARENT=TRUE&CRS=EPSG:4326&BBOX=42.389053,-71.907142,42.52679,-71.879999&WIDTH=891&HEIGHT=751
graphic-preview-type URL for the TigerWeb Web Mapping Service
guid SeriesCollection_tl_2017_bg.shp.iso.xml
licence []
metadata-date 2019-07-30
metadata-language eng
metadata_type geospatial
old-spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-179.231086, -14.601813], [179.859681, -14.601813], [179.859681, 71.441059], [-179.231086, 71.441059], [-179.231086, -14.601813]]]}
resource-type series
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-179.231086, -14.601813], [179.859681, -14.601813], [179.859681, 71.441059], [-179.231086, 71.441059], [-179.231086, -14.601813]]]}
spatial_harvester true
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • AmeriGEO
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • CKAN
  • GEO
  • GEOSS
  • National
  • North America
  • United States
  • bg
  • block group
  • polygon
  • state or equivalent entity
  • u.s.
  • united states
isopen False
metadata_created 2025-09-23T18:45:01.916420
metadata_modified 2025-09-23T18:45:01.916426
notes The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation. 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 5001, 5002, 5005,.., 5999 within census tract 1210.02 are also within BG 5 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 5,000 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 BG boundaries in this release are those that were delineated as part of the Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) for the 2010 Census.
num_resources 5
num_tags 14
title Series Information File for the 2017 TIGER/Line Shapefile, Current Block Group State-based