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.

            A consolidated city is a unit of local government for which the functions of an incorporated place
            and its county or minor civil division (MCD) have merged. This action results in both the primary
            incorporated place and the county or MCD continuing to exist as legal entities, even though the
            county or MCD performs few or no governmental functions and has few or no elected officials. Where
            this occurs, and where one or more other incorporated places in the county or MCD continue to
            function as separate governments, even though they have been included in the consolidated government,
            the primary incorporated place is referred to as a consolidated city. The Census Bureau classifies
            the separately incorporated places within the consolidated city as place entities and creates a
            separate place (balance) record for the portion of the consolidated city not within any other place.

            The boundaries of the consolidated cities are those as of January 1, 2019, as reported through the
            Census Bureau's Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS).