The 2013 TIGER/Line Shapefiles contain 2010 Census geography and current geography for the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Island areas . Current geography is defined as the latest version of the geographic extent of legally defined geographic areas as reported, generally reflecting the boundaries of govern mental units in effect as of January 1, 201 3 , or legal and statistical area boundaries that have been adjusted and/or corrected since the 2010 Census. This vintage enables users to see the most current boundaries of governmental units that match the data from the surveys that use 201 3 geography, such as the 201 3 Population Estimates and the American Community Survey. The features in this release reflect updates that were made in the MAF/TIGER database through May 2013
The 2013 TIGER/Line Shapefiles contain the geographic extent and boundaries of both legal andstatistical entities. A legal entity is a geographic entity whose boundaries, name, origin, and area description result from charters, laws, treaties, or other administrative or governmental action. Astatistical entity is any geographic entity or combination of en tities identified and defined solely for the tabulation and presentation of data. Statistical entity boundaries are not legally defined and the entities have no governmental standing.
2013 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
All legal boundaries and names are as of January 1, 2013. Released August 22, 2013.
Full document [PDF]
Chapter by chapter
- Chapter 1—Introduction [PDF]
- Chapter 2—About the 2012 Census TIGER/Line Shapefiles [PDF]
- Chapter 3—Structure and Format [PDF]
- Chapter 4—Shapefile Attribute Terms Glossary [PDF]
- Chapter 5—Geographic Shapefile Concepts Overview [PDF]
- Chapter 6—Relationship File Concept Overview [PDF]
- Appendix A—Complete Record Layout [PDF]
- Appendix B—2013 TIGER/Line Shapefile File Name Definitions [PDF]
- Appendix C—Pseudo-School Districts [PDF]
- Appendix D—Feature Name Directionals [PDF]
- Appendix E—Feature Name Qualifiers [PDF]
- Appendix F—Feature Name Types [PDF]
- Appendix G—MAF/TIGER Feature Class Code (MTFCC) Definitions [PDF]
Note: The boundaries shown are for Census Bureau 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.
See Also:
Working with TIGER/Line Shapefiles How-To Guides
From Mapbox – What’s New in TIGER 2013 | MapBox… "The biggest changes in this version are additional detail about freeways in cities like New York, Boston, Baltimore, and Minneapolis, improvements that have already been made independently in OpenStreetMap."