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Core Based Statistical Areas

Metadata Updated: October 15, 2025

The Core Based Statistical Areas dataset was updated on September 22, 2025 from the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). This resource is a member of a series. 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) System (MTS). The MTS 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. 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 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 urban areas of 50,000 or more population; and Micropolitan Statistical Areas, based on urban areas of at least 10,000 population but less than 50,000 population. The CBSA boundaries are those defined by OMB based on the 2020 Census and published in 2023. A data dictionary, or other source of attribute information, is accessible at https://doi.org/10.21949/1529014

Access & Use Information

License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Date October 14, 2025
Metadata Created Date August 3, 2024
Metadata Updated Date October 15, 2025
Reference Date(s) July 1, 2008 (creation), September 22, 2025 (revision)
Frequency Of Update notPlanned

Metadata Source

Harvested from National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) Metadata

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Date October 14, 2025
Metadata Created Date August 3, 2024
Metadata Updated Date October 15, 2025
Reference Date(s) July 1, 2008 (creation), September 22, 2025 (revision)
Responsible Party U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division (Point of Contact)
Contact Email
Guid Core Based Statistical Areas
Access Constraints Access Constraints: unrestricted
Coupled Resource
Frequency Of Update notPlanned
Licence 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. The 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.
Lineage
Metadata Language eng; USA
Metadata Type geospatial
Progress onGoing
Spatial Data Service Type
Spatial Reference System 3857
Spatial Harvester True

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