Essential vocabulary

The following essential ArcGIS Data vocabulary is defined. Unless noted, these definitions apply to Esri Demographics and ArcGIS Places.

Administrative region

An arbitrary geographic area, typically created by governments, into which most countries are divided—usually with a hierarchical structure. Governments use administrative regions to provide political oversight and regulation, administer public services, and to manage resources. Some examples of administrative regions include states, provinces, counties, cantons, municipalities, and so on.

Note:

In the United States, administrative regions are also known as legal/administrative regions.

Age

[Puerto Rico; United States] Age data is reported for five-year age groups and select summary groups such as 18 years and over. See the related term Median age.

[Canada] The age of a person or subject of interest at last birthday or at a specific reference date.

Age Dependency Ratio (ADR)

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Age Dependency Ratio (ADR) estimate and five-year forecast is a measure of the nonworking-age population relative to the working-age population that serves as a useful indicator of an area's age structure. Dependent populations are defined as children under 18 years of age and seniors aged 65 and older, and those aged 18 to 64 are defined as the working-age population.

Esri provides three age dependency ratio measures:

• The Age Dependency Ratio (ADR) is the population under 18 years of age and 65 and older (or dependents) divided by the working-age population aged 18 to 64. An ADR of 65.5 means there are approximately 66 dependents for every 100 working-age adults.
• The Child Dependency Ratio (CDR) is the population under 18 years of age divided by the working-age population aged 18 to 64. A CDR of 31.7 means there are approximately 32 children for every 100 working-age adults.
• The Senior Dependency Ratio (SDR) is the population aged 65 and older divided by the working-age population aged 18 to 64. An SDR of 33.8 means there are approximately 34 seniors for every 100 working-age adults.

All ratios are multiplied by 100. Higher ratios denote that a greater burden is carried by working-age people. Lower ratios mean more people are working who can support the dependent population. Learn more with the How to use and interpret Esri's U.S. Age Dependency Ratios tutorial.

Aggregate Dissemination Area (ADA)

[Canada] A statistical region created for the Canadian Census that groups existing geographic areas, including Census Tracts (CT), Census Subdivisions (CSD), or Dissemination Areas (DA). This region type was created to ensure data is available for small areas where it might otherwise be suppressed due to small populations. ADAs exist everywhere in Canada and, wherever possible, have a population between 5,000 and 15,000 based on the most recent Census. ADA boundaries respect provincial, territorial, Census Division (CD), Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), and Census Agglomeration (CA) boundaries. Indian Reserve CSDs and a few other areas where door-to-door canvassing occurred form a separate ADA.

• In areas without Census Tracts where Census Subdivisions have a population less than 15,000, adjacent Census Subdivisions are grouped to meet the ADA population criteria.
• In areas without Census Tracts where Census Subdivisions have a population greater than 15,000, adjacent Dissemination Areas are grouped within the CSDs to meet the ADA population criteria.

American Community Survey (ACS)

[Puerto Rico; United States] The U.S. Census Bureau eliminated the previously used long Census form in 2010 and now exclusively releases decennial census data collected from the short form. The American Community Survey (ACS) replaced the long form data and provides information about U.S. population's income, education, employment, language, migration, citizenship, marital status, and housing characteristics, such as value and rent.

The ACS is updated more frequently than the decennial census, collecting and producing population and housing information every year instead of every 10 years. It represents continuous measurement, or a rolling sample design. A small percentage of the population is sampled every month, and monthly samples are combined and averaged to produce one-, three-, or five-year databases. While the Census 2000 sample represented approximately 1 in 6 households and one point in time (April 1, 2000); the ACS represents approximately 1 in 40 households over the course of a given year. Smaller sample sizes affect data reporting and potentially introduce larger sampling errors.

Each ACS estimate is reported with a margin of error (MOE). The MOE is a measure of the variability of the estimate due to sampling error. The MOE allows data users to measure the range of uncertainty around each estimate. This range can be calculated with 90 percent confidence by taking the estimate plus or minus the MOE. For example, if the ACS reports an estimate of 100 ±20, there is a 90 percent chance that the value for the total population is between 80 and 120. The larger the MOE, the lower the precision of the estimate, and the less confidence one should have that the estimate is close to the true population value.

For more information about the ACS, see American Community Survey topic.

American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Areas (AIANNH)

[United States] A tribal region related to American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian tribal lands, subdivisions, or related homelands for which the U.S. Census Bureau provides census data. AIANNH includes federal and state recognized reservations, off-reservation trust lands, tribal statistical areas, and more.

AIANNH serve both administrative and statistical purposes and are categorized as follows:

Legal/Administrative tribal areas

• Federally recognized American Indian Reservation—An area set aside by the United States over which a federally recognized American Indian tribe has governmental authority. The boundary of the reservation might be in tribal treaties, agreements, executive orders, federal statutes, secretarial orders, or judicial determinations. Federally recognized American Indian reservations may cross state borders or exist in multiple states.
• Federally recognized American Indian Trust Land—An area for which the United States holds the title in trust for the benefit of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or for an individual tribal member. Trust land may be located on or off a reservation. Generally, the tribe has governmental authority over land in a trust status that is outside of the reservation. The U.S. Census Bureau tabulates data for reservations and for off-reservation trust areas, since tribes have governmental authority over these lands. The U.S. Census Bureau does not separately identify or tabulate data for on-reservation trust land.
• State recognized American Indian Reservation—An area established by a state government for a tribe recognized by the individual state that is not recognized federally. This is less common than federally recognized reservations.
• Hawaiian Home Land—An area held in trust for Native Hawaiians. Hawaiian Home lands are owned by the state of Hawaii for the purpose of leasing to one or more Native Hawaiians for residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial, pastoral, or any other activity authorized by the state. The U.S. Census Bureau treats these areas similarly to off-reservation trust lands.

Statistical tribal areas

• Alaska Native Village statistical area—An area that represents the residences, whether permanent or seasonal, of Alaska Natives who are members of or are primarily receiving governmental services from a defining Alaska Native Village and are located within the region and vicinity of the historic or traditional location.
• Oklahoma tribal statistical area—An area in Oklahoma where a tribe formerly had a reservation. The boundary is established by the U.S. Census Bureau and federally recognized American Indian tribes except where modified by agreement with neighboring federally recognized tribes.
• State designated tribal statistical area—An area that represents a concentration of people who identify with a state-recognized American Indian tribe and in which there is structured or organized tribal activity but no state recognized reservation.
• Tribal designated statistical area—A concentration of individuals who identify with a federally recognized American Indian tribe and in which there is structured or organized tribal activity.

In some cases, tribal areas are in dispute or are jointly governed by multiple tribes; the U.S. Census Bureau designates special joint-use areas to address these.

AIANNH geographic codes are four alphanumeric characters with a fifth optional character that is either an R or a T to indicate a reservation/statistical area (R) or off-reservation trust land (T). Codes are generally in alphabetical order by AIANNH type nationwide with one record for each unique combination of AIANNH code and land type.

American Indian Tribal Subdivision

[United States] A tribal region that is a legal/administrative subdivision of a federally recognized American Indian reservation, off-reservation trust land, or Oklahoma tribal statistical area (OTSA) for which the U.S. Census Bureau provides census data. American Indian Tribal Subdivisions are internal units of self-government or administration within tribal areas that serve social, cultural, or economic purposes and are often called segments, districts, chapters, and so on.

Each American Indian Tribal Subdivision has a three-digit geographic code assigned alphabetically within the state (or states). Because codes are assigned in alphabetical sequence by state, subdivisions may have more than one (dissimilar) code if the subdivision crosses state boundaries. Not all reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and OTSAs have tribal subdivisions.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

[Puerto Rico; United States] A private, nonprofit organization that develops U.S. industry standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel through consensus and public review and aligns U.S. standards with comparable international standards. ANSI codes are standardized numeric or alphanumeric codes with documentation issued by ANSI to ensure uniform identification of geographic entities throughout government agencies.

ANSI oversees the following two code series used by the U.S. Census Bureau: International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) codes (also known as Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) codes) and Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) codes. The U.S. Census Bureau also assigns and issues codes for a number of geographic entities for which INCITS or GNIS codes are not available, sometimes in addition or parallel to INCITS and GNIS codes.

Average household size

A calculation that divides the number of persons in households by the number of households. See the related term Household.

Block

[Puerto Rico; United States] A statistical region of geography, bounded by visible features—such as streets, roads, streams, or railroad tracks—or by invisible lines such as property or administrative boundaries. Blocks are nested within all other tabulated census geographies. Blocks are generally small in area, especially in cities. However, blocks in rural or remote areas may cover hundreds of square miles.

Blocks have a four-digit geographic code that is usually combined with the two-digit state code, the three-digit county code, and the six-digit census tract code, resulting in a unique 15-digit block code. If the block portion of the code (the final four digits) begins with zero, it indicates a water-only block (or that the block is covered by water).

Block group (BG)

[Puerto Rico; United States] A statistical region of geography that is composed of one or more census blocks and is a subdivision of a census tract. A block group generally contains 600 to 3,000 residents. Unlike a Tribal Block Group, a census block group will not cross census tract, county, or state boundaries.

Block groups have a one-digit geographic code that is usually combined with the two-digit state code, the three-digit county code, and the six-digit census tract code, resulting in a unique 12-digit block group code. A zero value block group indicates that the block group is water-only (or covered by water).

CEGEP

[Canada] Refers to a Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) in Quebec, which offers post-secondary, pre-university, technical, and vocational education (comparable to junior or community college).

Census

See instead U.S. Census.

Census Consolidated Subdivision (CCS)

[Canada] A group of adjacent Census Subdivisions (CSD) within the same Census Division (CD). Generally, a CCS is formed when smaller, more densely populated Census Subdivisions, such as towns and villages, are combined with surrounding, more rural areas to create a statistical region that is larger than a Census Subdivision and smaller than a Census Division. The purpose of a CCS is to improve longitudinal analysis, particularly for data related to agriculture; a CCS also provides a relatively stable geographic unit with infrequent boundary shifts.

A CCS may have some of the following criteria:

• Land area greater than 25 square kilometers. Census Subdivisions with land area smaller than 25 square kilometers are usually grouped with a larger CSD.
• A CSD with a population greater than 100,000.
• A CCS with fewer than 16 farms at the latest Census is merged with adjacent CCS to help reduce data suppression while maintaining data confidentiality.

Census County Division (CCD)

[Puerto Rico; United States] A statistical subdivision of a county or county equivalent used by the U.S. Census Bureau to collect and present census data. This is used primarily in states that do not have well-defined Minor Civil Divisions (MCD) or where MCDs are considered unsuitable for statistical purposes. A CCD generally aligns with census tracts (CT) and may encompass one or more CTs.

A CCD has a five-digit geographic code that is usually combined with the state and county code, resulting in a unique eight-digit Census County Division code.

Census-Designated Place (CDP)

[Puerto Rico; United States] A statistical region in the United States that reports population data but is not legally incorporated under the laws of the state in which they are located or does not have an official or legal status.

Census-Designated Places and Incorporated Places use five-digit geographic codes that are assigned alphabetically by place name within each state; these are almost always used with the two-digit state code, creating a unique seven-digit code. While place codes are unique within each state, the same code may be used for a different CDP or Incorporated Place in a different state.

Census Division (CD)

[Canada] An administrative region that groups neighboring municipalities together for the purposes of regional planning and managing common services (such as police or ambulance services). These groupings are established under laws in effect in certain provinces in Canada. Census Division is the general term for provincially legislated areas—such as county, municipalité régionale de comté (MRC), and regional district—or their equivalents. In other provinces and territories where laws do not provide for such areas, equivalent areas are defined for statistical reporting purposes. CDs are intermediate geographic areas between the province and territory level and the Census Subdivision (CSD) level. CDs cover all of Canada.

Census family

[Canada] A Census family is composed of parent-child families that live in the same dwelling, such as a married or common-law couple or one-parent family with at least one child living in the same household. Children in the family may be biological or adopted, regardless of the child's age or marital status, provided the child lives in the dwelling without their spouse, common-law partner, or a child of their own. Grandchildren who live with at least one grandparent and no parent in the same household also constitute a Census family.

Note:

See the related term Household Type.

Census Glossary

[Puerto Rico; United States] View the Census Glossary for the U.S. Census Bureau definition of attributes included in the U.S. Census and American Community Survey (ACS) databases.

Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)/Census Agglomeration (CA)

[Canada] A statistical region formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centered on a Population Centre—also known as the core. CMA/CAs do not cover all of Canada.

CMAs and CAs have the following qualities:

• A Census Metropolitan Area must have a total population of at least 100,000, based on the current Census, of which at least 50,000 must live in the core based on adjusted data from the previous Census.
• A Census Agglomeration must have a core population of at least 10,000 also based on adjusted data from the previous Census.

To be included in either a CMA or a CA, adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the core, as measured by commuting flows derived from place of work/labor statistics from the previous Census.

If the population of the core of a CA falls below 10,000, the CA is retired from the next Census. However, once an area becomes a CMA, that status is retained even if the total population declines below 100,000 or its core population falls below 50,000. All areas inside a CMA or a CA that are not part of a POPCTR are Rural Areas.

Census Metropolitan Influenced Zone (MIZ)

[Canada] A method of differentiating Census Subdivisions (CSD) in provinces or territories that are outside of Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) or Census Agglomerations (CA) by placing them into one of five MIZ categories.

CSDs that are outside of CMAs and CAs in a province are assigned one of four MIZ categories based on the degree of influence exerted by the nearest core. Specifically, classification is based on the percentage of resident employed labor force (excluding those with no fixed workplace address) that commutes to work in any CMA or CA core.

CSDs that are outside of CMAs and CAs in territories are grouped into a single MIZ category.

The following are the MIZ categories in use:

• Strong—CSDs outside of CMAs/CAs in provinces where >30% of the labor force commutes to a CMA or CA core. This excludes CSDs with <40 employed workers.
• Moderate—CSDs outside of CMAs/CAs in provinces where 5% to 30% of the labor force commutes to a CMA or CA core. This excludes CSDs with <40 employed workers.
• Weak—CSDs outside of CMAs/CAs in provinces where 0% to 5% of the labor force commutes to a CMA or CA core. This excludes CSDs with <40 employed workers.
• No influence—CSDs outside of CMAs/CAs in provinces where no labor force commutes to a CMA or CA core. This includes CSDs with <40 employed workers.
• Territories—All CSDs outside of CMAs/CAs in territories.

Census Subdivision (CSD)

[Canada] A general term for a municipality (as determined by provincial or territorial legislation) or an area that is treated as a municipal equivalent for statistical purposes, for example, an Indian reserve, Indian settlement, and unorganized territory. Municipal status is defined by laws in effect in each province and territory in Canada.

Census Tract

[Puerto Rico; United States] A small, relatively permanent statistical region in a United States county or county equivalent created and used by the U.S. Census Bureau to collect and present census data. A Census Tract (TR) typically contains 1,200 to 8,000 residents (optimally 4,000). The boundaries are usually delineated by local committees and do not cross county or state lines (unlike a Tribal Census Tract).

Census Tracts are identified by a six-digit geographic code, with an implied decimal between the fourth and fifth digits. They are always shown with the two-digit state code and three-digit country code, creating a unique eleven-digit census tract code.

[Canada] A small, relatively stable statistical region in a Canadian Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) or Census Agglomeration (CA). Census Tracts (CT) have a population of approximately 2,500 to 7,500 people, with a preferred average of 5,000, although tracts on reserves, in the central business district, in major commercial and industrial zones, or in peripheral areas may have population counts outside this range.

CTs are located only in CMAs and CAs that had a core population of 50,000 or more based on data from the previous Census. CTs are defined by a committee of local specialists, such as municipal planners. Once a CMA or CA has been subdivided into Census Tracts, the tracts are maintained even if the core population subsequently declines below 50,000.

Civilian labor force

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's estimate of civilian labor force consists of all persons 16 years of age and older who are either employed or unemployed and does not include persons on active duty in the armed forces.

Compound annual growth rate (CAGR)

[Puerto Rico; United States] An annualized measure that describes a variable's direction (positive or negative) and magnitude of change between two distinct points in time. An annualized rate means that the resultant value reflects a rate of change covering a 12-month time period. This component of the calculation permits the analysis of multiple growth rates between values measured from differing points in time since the change is computed using a common time period of 12 months. The compound component of the expression means that the annualized growth rate is repeated, or compounded, each year. Moreover, the CAGR can colloquially be referred to as growth rate, annual rate, annualized growth rate, or compound growth rate.

The CAGR is calculated using the following generalized formula:

where b is the beginning point in time, e is the ending point in time, and VAR_b and VAR_e are the variable values for these respective points in time.

For example, to compute a growth rate for total population between the years 2021 and 2026 for an area where the counts are 1,574 persons and 1,854 persons, respectively, use the following formula:

Congressional District (CD)

An administrative region, similar to an electoral district, used by the Philippines and the United States.

[United States] A legal/administrative region primarily used to create equally sized regions for political representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. After the apportionment of congressional seats among the states based on decennial state population counts, each state establishes congressional districts to be used for electing representatives.

Congressional Districts have a two-digit geographic code, which is usually combined with the two-digit state code, creating a unique four-digit Congressional District code in the format SSCD where S=State and CD=Congressional District.

Note:

See the related term Federal Electoral District (FED).

Constant Year $

[Canada] Sometimes known as real dollars. A purchasing power term that expresses income value in dollars and removes the effects of price changes and inflation, as if the value is constant over time. Constant Year $ is often used to analyze income trends. This method presumes that prices and costs are the same as they were in the base year. For example, using Constant Year $, a shopping cart of goods that cost $100 CAD in the year 2005 would still cost $100 CAD in 2025 but the cart would contain fewer items. See the related term Current Year $.

Consumer Spending data

[United States] Esri's Consumer Spending data provides current year estimates and forecasts U.S. spending based on surveyed consumption preferences for over 700 products and services organized by 17 categories. For every product or service, Esri provides three measures of consumer demand:

• Total Amount Spent—The Total Amount Spent represents a current year estimate (or a five-year forecast) of the aggregate amount spent for a product by all households in an area.
• Average Amount Spent—The Average Amount Spent represents a current year estimate (or a five-year forecast) of the average amount spent for a product per household in an area. Averages are calculated using total annual spending by all households in a geographic area. Values may be lower than anticipated for products purchased by relatively few households.
• Spending Potential Index (SPI)—The SPI compares the average amount spent locally for a product to the average amount spent nationally; an index of 100 reflects the average. An SPI of 168 indicates an area where spending on a product is 68 percent higher than the national average; a local value of 78 indicates consumer spending that is 22 percent lower than the national average for a product.

Estimates are based on the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Spending surveys—the Interview Survey and the Diary Survey—and Esri's key demographic sources, including Esri Updated Demographics and ArcGIS Tapestry data.

Learn more about Esri Consumer Spending data

Contract rent

[Puerto Rico; United States] The monthly rent agreed to or contracted for, regardless of any furnishings, utilities, fees, meals, or services that may be included. For vacant units, it is the monthly rent asked for the rental unit at the time of interview. See the related term Gross rent.

Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA)

[Puerto Rico; United States] A statistical region that contains at least one urban area with a population of at least 10,000. A CBSA can be a metropolitan statistical area or a micropolitan statistical area. CBSAs are defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal statistical agencies, including the U.S. Census Bureau. A CBSA has a five-digit geographic code assigned by the Office of Management and Budget.

County (CY)

A geographic, municipal, or administrative subdivision of a country.

[Puerto Rico; United States] A core administrative region typically used to oversee infrastructure and public services. Some parts of the U.S. use an equivalent region, such as boroughs in Alaska, parishes in Louisiana, and municipios in Puerto Rico. Counties use a three-digit geographic code that is usually combined with the two-digit state code, creating a unique five-digit county code in the format SSCCC where S=State and C=County.

County Subdivision (CSD)

[Puerto Rico; United States] An administrative or statistical region of a county recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau and used to gather and present census data. County subdivisions can include census county divisions, census subareas, minor civil divisions, and unorganized territories. County Subdivisions use a five-digit geographic code that is usually combined with the two-digit state code and the three-digit county code to create a unique ten-digit CSD code.

Crime Index

[United States] Esri provides current year estimates and five-year forecasts of the relative risk (not actual crime occurrence) of seven specific crime types, divided between personal and property crime indexes. For example, a crime index of 96 for Robbery indicates that the risk for robbery occurrences in a given area is 4 percent lower than the national average of 100.

See the AGS Crime Risk methodology to learn more.

Current Year $

[Canada] A purchasing power term that expresses income values reflecting the year in which the person, household, or family received the income, unadjusted for inflation. Current Year income values are most commonly used to analyze and compare today's data. For example, using Current Year $, a shopping cart of goods that cost $100 CAD in the year 2005 would cost considerably more in 2025 for the same amount of goods. See the related term Constant Year $.

Data collection

A data collection is a preassembled list of attributes that are used to enrich the input features. Collection attributes can describe various types of information, such as demographic characteristics and geographic context, of the locations or areas submitted as input features.

Some data collections can be used in all supported countries. Other data collections may only be available in one or a collection of countries. Data collections may only be available in a subset of countries because of differences in the demographic data that is available for each country.

Database

One or more structured sets of persistent data that are managed and stored as a unit and generally associated with software to update and query the data. A simple database can be a single file with many records, each of which references the same set of fields. A GIS database includes data about the spatial locations and shapes of geographic features recorded as points, lines, areas, pixels, grid cells, or TINs, as well as their attributes.

Daytime population

Daytime population includes those at work (in the labor force)—both residents who work locally and commuters, and those at home (not in the labor force) either permanently or temporarily, such as children, seniors, caregivers, those on vacation or sick leave, or unemployed.

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Daytime population includes workers—employed civilians at work and armed forces personnel, and residents—population under 16 years of age, those who are unemployed, not in the labor force, and employed civilians temporarily absent from work due to illness, vacation, bad weather, labor disputes, vacation, and so on. See the related terms Daytime residents and Daytime workers.

Daytime residents

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Daytime residents estimate includes the population under 16 years of age, the unemployed, those not in the labor force (retirees, homemakers, college students, and miscellaneous noninstitutional and institutional group quarters populations in nursing homes, juvenile detention centers, homeless shelters, and so on), and the civilian employed temporarily absent from work due to illness, vacation, bad weather, labor dispute, vacation, and so on.

Daytime workers

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Daytime workers estimate is the total number of workers including the civilian employed at work (commuters and noncommuters) and the armed forces personnel (on and off base).

Demographic data

The statistical characteristics (such as age, birth rate, and income) of a human population.

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri U.S. and Puerto Rico Updated Demographics datasets include current-year estimates and five-year projections for key demographic data. All data—with the exception of the ArcGIS Tapestry dataset, which is not available at the Block Group level of geography—is available at all levels of geography.

Designated Market Area (DMA)

[United States] A geographic region where the population receives the same local broadcast media. DMAs are used primarily for consumer analysis and marketing. Nielsen Media Research defines and owns DMA data and boundaries, the latter of which typically correspond to U.S. counties, with a few exceptions.

Designated Place (DPL)

[Canada] A typically small statistical region that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or Population Centres (areas with a population of at least 1,000 and a density of 400 persons per square kilometer). Designated Places provide data for submunicipal areas. To become a Designated Place, small communities or settlements ideally consist of an area less than or equal to 10 square kilometers and use the same block structure boundary as the previous Census.

Disposable income

[Puerto Rico; United States] Disposable income represents money income after taxes—an estimate of a household's purchasing power. Disposable income is estimated in nominal dollars for nine intervals. Esri reports disposable income for seven age of householder groups. Methods for median and average calculations follow those used for household income.

Dissemination Area (DA)

[Canada] A small, relatively stable statistical region composed of one or more adjacent Dissemination Blocks with an average population of 400 to 700 persons based on data from the previous Census. A DA is the smallest standard geographic area for which Census data is distributed and is used throughout Canada.

Dissemination Block (DB)

[Canada] A statistical region bounded on all sides by roads or standard geographic boundaries created for Census purposes. A DB is the smallest standard geographic area for which population and dwelling counts are distributed; this geography level is used throughout Canada.

Diversity Index

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's current-year Diversity Index estimate and five-year forecast combines racial diversity with ethnic diversity and shows the likelihood that two persons, chosen at random from the same area, belong to different races or ethnic groups. The Diversity Index uses a scaled measure that ranges from 0 (no diversity) to 100 (complete diversity). Additional diversity index interpretations include the following:

• Areas with a diversity index value near 100 means the population is more evenly divided across race and ethnic groups. A value of zero means an area's entire population belongs to one race group and one ethnic group.
• A value of 50 means an area's entire population is divided evenly into two race groups and one ethnic group.
• A Diversity Index of 67.5 means the probability that two people randomly chosen from the U.S. population belong to different race or ethnic groups is nearly 68 percent. For more information, see Esri's Diversity Index Methodology Statement.

Dwelling

[Canada] A set of living quarters. Two types of dwellings are identified in the census: Collective Dwellings and Private Dwelling.

Dwelling—Collective

[Canada] A dwelling of a commercial, institutional, or communal nature in which a person or group of persons reside or could reside. A Collective Dwelling provides care or services or has certain common facilities—such as a kitchen or bathroom—that are shared by the occupants. Examples of Collective Dwellings include lodging or rooming houses, hotels, motels, tourist establishments, nursing homes, residences for senior citizens, hospitals, staff residences, military bases, work camps, correctional facilities, and group homes.

Dwelling—Marginal (occupied)

[Canada] An occupied Private Dwelling that does not meet the conditions for year-round occupancy (it lacks a source of heat or power and does not provide shelter from the elements). A marginal dwelling must be occupied by a person or group of people who have no other usual place of residence to be considered a dwelling. Examples of occupied marginal dwellings are non-winterized cottages or cabins and unconverted barns or garages.

Dwelling—Private

[Canada] Separate living quarters with a private entrance either from outside the building or from a common hall, lobby, vestibule, or stairway inside the building. Entrance to the dwelling must be one that can be used without passing through the living quarters of some other person or group of people.

To qualify as a private dwelling, living quarters must meet two conditions necessary for year-round occupancy:

1. It must have a source of heat or power (chimney, power lines, oil or gas pipe or meter, a generator, firewood, electric light, heating pump, or solar panels).
2. It must have an enclosed space that provides shelter from the elements, such as complete and enclosed walls and a roof, and doors and windows that provide protection from wind, rain, and snow.

Dwellings that do not meet the above two conditions necessary for year-round occupancy are considered Marginal Dwellings.

Economic Dependency Ratio (EDR)

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Economic Dependency Ratio (EDR) measures the relationship of nonworkers to the employed population. Nonworkers include children, the unemployed population, and those not in the labor force (for example, individuals that are neither working nor actively searching for work). Children are defined as the population under 16 years of age. Learn more with Esri's Dependency Ratios Methodology.

Esri provides four economic dependency ratio measures:

• The Child Economic Dependency Ratio (CEDR) is the population under 16 divided by the total employed population. A CEDR of 41.1 means there are around 41 children for every 100 workers.
• The Working-Age Economic Dependency Ratio (WEDR) is the population not employed aged 16 to 64 divided by the total employed population. A WEDR of 39.7 means there are around 40 dependents aged 16 to 64 for every 100 workers.
• The Senior Economic Dependency Ratio (SEDR) is the population not employed aged 65 and older divided by the total employed population. A SEDR of 29.4 means there are around 29 seniors for every 100 workers.
• Total EDR is the sum of CEDR, WEDR, and SEDR.

All ratios are multiplied by 100. Higher ratios mean a greater burden is carried by working-age people. Lower ratios mean more people are working who can support the dependent population. These measures exclude prisoners and the Armed Forces population.

Economic Region (ER)

[Canada] A statistical region that (mostly) groups municipalities, or Census Divisions, into distinct areas that share economic characteristics. Economic regions exist across Canada and are used to analyze regional economic data, track trends, and compare regional economic activity.

Family/Family household

[Puerto Rico; United States] Families are households in which one or more persons in the household are related to the householder (formerly, the head of the household) by birth, marriage, or adoption. The census tabulates only one family per household.

Family householder

[Puerto Rico; United States] A family householder is a householder living with one or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption. The householder and all people in the household related to the householder are considered family members.

Federal Electoral Districts (FED)

[Canada] An administrative region primarily used to create equally sized regions for political representation in the House of Commons. The Federal Electoral District boundaries are based on the redistribution process (or representation order) following the most recent federal election held prior to the Census. FEDs cover all of Canada.

Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code

[Puerto Rico; United States] Previously known as a Federal Information Processing System or Standards code, an alphanumeric or numeric code used to identify a state, county, or other administrative or statistical region. Initially developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for various purposes, including geographic identification, FIPS codes are now maintained by the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS).

The codes for geographic entities for which NIST formerly provided Federal Information Processing Standards oversight continue to be referred to as FIPS codes and the U.S. Census Bureau maintains and issues codes for these entities following the same structure. These include states, counties, congressional districts, Core Based Statistical Areas and related statistical areas, places, county subdivisions, and American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian areas.

Note:

See the related term geographic code for more information.

Forward Sortation Area (FSA)

[Canada] A postal region that represents geographic areas of Canada. The Canadian Postal Code (PC) is a two-part, six-character alphanumeric sequence composed of a Forward Sortation Area and a Local Delivery Unit (LDU) in the format FSA LDU. The first character in an FSA indicates the province or territory; the second character indicates an urban or rural area. An FSA typically contains one or more LDUs. The number of FSAs in Canada increases intermittently as new Population Centres are built. FSA boundaries are provided by the latest Census and are updated annually based on the Canada Post FSA listings current as of the end of the previous year. FSA changes during the current year are not incorporated until the following year.

Generation Status

[Canada] Refers to whether a person or the person's parents were born in Canada.

Geographic code

[Puerto Rico; United States] In addition to overseeing the decennial Census, the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal agencies assign numeric or alphanumeric codes to geographic, administrative, and statistical regions in the United States and its territories to support the exchange of statistical data. Most codes are nested hierarchically; for example, a county is nested within a state and a block within a block group. Geographic codes are also generally assigned in alphabetical order by name; for instance, Alabama, the first state alphabetically, has the geographic code 01.

Although geographic codes are often called FIPS codes, the Census Bureau assigns and issues codes for a number of geographic entities for which FIPS codes are not available (or sometimes in addition to existing FIPS codes). Some codes, such as State Legislative Districts, use code standards established by individual states; School Districts use codes provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

The following table lists the geographic codes and formats relevant to Esri's Puerto Rico geography levels and U.S. geography levels:

Geography	Code format	Length and example
State and state equivalent		Two digits. The code for the state of Minnesota is 27; the code for the U.S. territory Puerto Rico is 72.
Congressional District		Two digits combined with the two-digit state code. The code for Texas Congressional District 6 is 4806.
County and county equivalent		Three digits combined with the two-digit state code. The code for Edgar County, Illinois, is 17045.
School district		Five digits combined with the two-digit state code. The code for Allegheny Valley School District in Pennsylvania is 4202190. Note: School district codes are assigned by the U.S. Department of Education.
State Legislative District		Three digits combined with the two-digit state code. The code for Hawaii's State Senate District 7 is 15007.
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Area		Four characters with an optional fifth character (R or T). The code for the Uintah and Ouray Reservation Trust Land in Utah is 4390T. Note: AIANNH codes are assigned and maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau.
American Indian Tribal Subdivision		Three digits combined with the four-digit AIANNH code, assigned individually by state. When an American Indian Tribal Subdivision crosses state boundaries, there is a different code for each state.
Tribal Census Tract		Six characters combined with the four-digit AIANNH code. The Tribal Census Tract code always starts with the letter T followed by five digits. The final two digits are reserved for potential tract splits.
Tribal Block Group		One character (A-K) combined with the four-digit AIANNH code and six-character Tribal Census Tract (TCT) code. This always corresponds to the parent TCT code.
Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA)—can be a Metropolitan or a Micropolitan statistical area		Five digits. The code for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan statistical area is 38900. Note: CBSA codes are assigned by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA)		Five characters combined with the two-digit state code. The code for the PUMA in Stafford County, Virginia, is 5151115. Note: PUMA codes are assigned by each state.
Census Tract		Six digits combined with the two-digit state and three-digit county codes. The code of the census tract encompassing California's state capitol building in Sacramento is 06067001101. There is an implied decimal between the fourth and fifth digits.
Block Group		One digit combined with the two-digit state, three-digit county, and six-digit census tract codes. In the string 060377001002, the 2 identifies block group 2 in census tract 700100 in Los Angeles County (037) in the state of California (06). A zero value block group indicates that it is covered by water.
Block		Four digits combined with the two-digit state, three-digit county, and six-digit census tract codes. The string 060377001001000 identifies block 1000 in census tract 700100 in Los Angeles County (037) in the state of California (06). The first digit in the block code, 1, also indicates that it is in block group 1; a block code that begins with a zero indicates that it is covered by water.
Place—includes Census-designated and Incorporated Places		Five digits combined with the two-digit state code. The code for Fanning Springs, Florida—an incorporated place that spans boundaries in both Gilchrist and Levy counties—is 1221850. Note: Places use FIPS codes, assigned and maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau.
County Subdivision		Five digits combined with the two-digit state and three-digit county codes. The code for Township 1 in Sebastian County, Arkansas, is 0513191105. Note: County subdivisions use FIPS codes, assigned and maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Census County Division		Five digits combined with the two digit state and three-digit county codes. This is abbreviated as CCD. The code for the Fort Novosel CCD in Dale County, Alabama, is 0104592103.
Minor Civil Division		Five digits combined with the two digit state and three-digit county codes. The code for Sugarcreek township in Greene County, Ohio, is 3905775208.
H3 Hexagon		A 15-character hexadecimal string representing an H3 hexagon, such as 8328308280fffff; the second character represents the resolution (2-7).

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) code

[Puerto Rico; United States] The U.S. federal and national standard for nomenclature for geographic entities, maintained by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names. GNIS codes are also known as National Standards (NS) codes. GNIS codes were established and are assigned by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) with oversight from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS).

Note:

The U.S. Geological Survey provides a tool for searching Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) codes.

Gini Index

A statistical measure used to represent income inequality within a country. It ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 indicating perfect equality (wealth is evenly distributed) and 1 indicating absolute inequality (wealth distribution is concentrated to a single person or a very small group). The Gini Index is often also expressed as a percentage, with values ranging from 0 to 100 percent.

[United States] Esri's Gini Index of household income inequality quantifies the dispersion of household income or the deviation of household incomes from perfect equality. The Gini Index ranges from 0 to 100 where 0 represents total inequality and 100 represents total equality. See Esri Updated Demographics for more information about Esri Income Inequality variables.

Gross rent

[Puerto Rico; United States] The amount of contract rent plus the estimated average monthly cost of utilities (electricity, gas, and water and sewer) and fuels (oil, coal, kerosene, wood, and so on) paid for by the renter (or paid for the renter by someone else). Gross rent is intended to eliminate differentials which result from varying practices with respect to the inclusion of utilities and fuels as part of the rental payment. See the related term Contract rent.

Group quarters population

[Puerto Rico; United States] All people living in shared or collective living quarters instead of housing units. Group quarters are places where people live or stay in a group living arrangement that is owned or managed by an entity or organization providing housing, services, or both for the residents. Group quarters are categorized as institutional or noninstitutional. Institutional group quarters include adult correctional facilities; juvenile facilities; skilled-nursing facilities; and other institutional locations, such as mental health, inpatient, or hospice facilities. Noninstitutional group quarters include facilities such as college and university student housing; military quarters; and other noninstitutional locations, such as emergency shelters, transitional shelters, and group homes.

H3 Hexagon Grid

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri uses the open source, global hierarchical H3 grid system originally developed at Uber. H3 is used to index geographies into a tessellated grid of repeating, commonly shaped polygon features that cover a given extent on a map. H3 hexagons maintain a consistent index and shape compared to other geographic schemas, providing a stable template for temporal and spatial analysis.

There are 16 resolutions available. Currently Esri creates data for resolutions 2-7. These represent different sizes, with H2 the largest grid system and H7 the smallest. Each finer resolution contains hexagons approximately 1/7th the area of the coarser resolution. The larger the resolution, the smaller the average area is for each hexagon.

H3 index codes are represented in a 15-character hexadecimal format, with the second character representing one of the resolutions.

For more information about hexagons, start with the article An authoritative guide to hexagons in Business Analyst: the basics. For more information about the open source H3 geospatial indexing system, see H3geo.org.

Hispanic origin

[Puerto Rico; United States] The U.S. Census uses a self-identified Hispanic origin category that refers to ethnicity, not race, and includes population with Hispanic, Latino, and Spanish origins. People of Hispanic origin can be of any race.

Historical Time Series data

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Historical Time Series database contains estimates for estimates for total population, households, and housing units data for every year between the prior decennial census and Esri's current estimates at all levels of geography down to the block group level. For example, the 2021 time series covers the entire decade from 2010 to 2021. Because this is a vintage-based time series, with each Updated Demographics release, the entire time series is updated to include new, yearly estimates. For more information, see Esri Updated Demographics.

Home value

[Puerto Rico; United States] The estimate of value is presented for total owner-occupied units. For a discussion of home value projections, see Esri Updated Demographics. See the related term Median home value.

Household

Population living together in one housing unit.

[Puerto Rico; United States] An occupied housing unit. Household type is identified by the presence of relatives and the number of persons living in the household. Family households, with or without children, include married couples and other families, such as a male or female householder with no spouse present. Nonfamily households may be a group of unrelated persons or a single person living alone.

[Canada] A person or group of persons who occupy the same dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada or abroad. The dwelling may be either a Collective Dwelling or a Private Dwelling. The household may consist of a family group, such as a Census family, a non-Census family, two or more families sharing a dwelling, a group of unrelated people, or a person living alone. Household members who are temporarily absent on reference day (Census day) are considered part of their usual household.

Note:

See the related term Household Type.

Household income

[Puerto Rico; United States] The sum of the income of all people 15 years and older living in the household. See the related term Income.

[Canada] See instead the term Income.

Household income base

[Puerto Rico; United States] This is the sum of the household income distribution.

Household income inequality

[Puerto Rico; United States] See instead the terms Gini Index, Households in Income Tier, and Income Inequality Ratios.

Household Maintainer

[Canada] See Maintainer.

Household Type

[Canada] Refers to the differentiation of households based on whether they are Census family households or non-Census family households, and the composition of the household. Census family households are those that contain at least one Census family. Non-Census family households may be one person living alone or two or more people who live together but do not meet Census family criteria. Census family households may be further differentiated based on the presence of additional people not in the Census family.

Householder

[Puerto Rico; United States] A person or one of the people, in whose name the home is owned, being bought, or rented. If there is no such person present, any household member 15 years of age and older can serve as the householder. There are two types of householders; see related terms Family householder and Nonfamily householder.

Households below poverty

[Puerto Rico; United States] Households below poverty are those households that fall below a poverty line that is established by the Census Bureau each year. The line differs depending on the size of the household—it is lower for smaller sized households and higher for larger sized households. For example, in 2020, the poverty line for a family of three was approximately $20,591.

Households in Income Tier

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Households in Income Tier method measures the household income distribution; this estimate is labeled the middle tier of income. Households not identified as middle income are classified into lower-tier and upper-tier categories. Esri classifies households in an area into three income tiers (low tier, middle tier and upper tier), where the middle tier is interpretable as middle class:

• Households in Low Income Tier are households earning below Esri's defined lower limit for middle tier households.
• Households in Middle Income Tier are households earning between Esri's range of incomes defined as middle income.
• Households in Upper Income Tier are households earning above Esri's defined upper limit for middle tier households.

See Esri Updated Demographics for more information about Esri Income Inequality variables.

Households on food stamps

[Puerto Rico; United States] Households on food stamps includes only people living together as one economic unit sharing common cooking facilities and for whom food is customarily purchased in common. Food stamps are government-issued coupons that are sold at little cost or given to low-income persons, redeemable for food.

Housing Affordability Index

[United States] Esri's Housing Affordability Index (HAI) measures the financial ability of a typical household to purchase an existing home in an area. An HAI of 100 represents an area where median household income is sufficient to afford a home valued at the median home price. An index greater than 100 suggests homes are easily afforded by the average area household while an HAI less than 100 suggests that homes are less affordable.

For example, an HAI of 150 means that median household income is 50 percent higher than what is necessary to afford a home at the median value. An HAI of 50 means that median household income is only 50 percent of what is required to afford a home at the median value. Assumptions regarding interest rates, mortgage length, down payment, and debt service ratios are made to assess affordability. In 2021, the HAI for the United States was 130.

The Housing Affordability Index is not applicable in areas with no households or in predominantly rental markets. Esri's home value estimates include owner-occupied homes only. To learn more, see Housing Affordability in the U.S.

Housing unit

[Puerto Rico; United States] A house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is occupied (or if vacant, is intended for occupancy) as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live separately from any other people in the building and which have direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall. Occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of related or unrelated people who share living arrangements.

Income

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri implements the definition of money income used by the U.S. Census Bureau. For each person 15 years of age or older, money income received in the preceding calendar year is summed from earnings, unemployment compensation, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, public assistance, veteran's payments, survivor benefits, disability benefits, pension or retirement income, interest, dividends, rent, royalties, estates and trusts, educational assistance, alimony, child support, financial assistance from outside the household, and other income. Household income distributions are estimated for areas with 10 or more households only. For more information about income estimates, see Esri Updated Demographics. See the related terms Median household income and Per capita income.

Income Inequality Ratio

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri provides two types of income inequality ratios: interdecile ratios and share ratios. Interdecile ratios highlight income inequalities of a distribution. These measures quantify the spread of incomes across households in any area and are derived from income limits by percentile. Interdecile ratios are positional measures while share ratios also reflect aggregate income earned by the highest earners relative to the lowest earners.

Esri provides three common interdecile ratios:

• P90-10 Ratio of Income Inequality is an interdecile ratio that quantifies the imbalance between the top and bottom ten percent of households. This measure is the ratio of the income dollar value for the household at the 90th percentile of the income distribution to the household at the 10th percentile of the income distribution.
• P90-50 Ratio of Income Inequality quantifies imbalance between the top decile and the midpoint of the household income distribution. This measure is the ratio of the income dollar value for the household at the 90th percentile of the income distribution to the household at the 50th percentile (median) of the income distribution.
• P50-10 Ratio of Income Inequality quantifies the imbalance between the mid-point and the bottom decile of the income distribution. This measure is the ratio of the income dollar value for the household at the 50th percentile (median) of the income distribution to the 10th percentile of the income distribution.

Esri provides two share ratios:

• 80-20 Share Ratio of Income Inequality quantifies the share of aggregate household income for households earning at or above the 80th percentile to those earning below the 20th percentile of the income distribution.
• 90-40 Share Ratio of Income Inequality quantifies the share of aggregate household income of households earning at or above the 90th percentile to those earning below the 40th percentile of the income distribution.

See Esri Updated Demographics for more information about Esri Income Inequality variables.

Incorporated Place

[Puerto Rico; United States] A municipal administrative region—such as a city, town, or village—that provides governmental functions for a concentration of people.

Census-Designated Places (CDP) and Incorporated Places use five-digit geographic codes that are assigned alphabetically by place name within each state; these are almost always used with the two-digit state code, creating a unique seven-digit code. While place codes are unique within each state, the same code may be used for a different CDP or Incorporated Place in a different state.

Index

[Puerto Rico; United States] An index is the ratio of a local percent (rate) to a U.S. percent (rate) or other base, for example:

Institutional Resident

[Canada] A person who lives in an institutional Collective Dwelling, such as a hospital, nursing home, or correctional facility. Institutional residents include any resident under care or custody—for example, a patient or an inmate—and any resident employee and family members living with them.

Interdecile ratios

[United States] See instead Income Inequality Ratios.

International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS)

[Puerto Rico; United States] The central United States forum dedicated to creating technology standards, the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) now oversees most, but not all, codes formerly known as FIPS codes.

Legal/Administrative region

[Puerto Rico; United States] See instead the term administrative region.

Local Delivery Unit (LDU)

[Canada] Part of a postal region that represents geographic areas of Canada. The Canadian Postal Code (PC) is a two-part, six-character alphanumeric sequence composed of a Forward Sortation Area (FSA) and a Local Delivery Unit in the format FSA LDU. The Local Delivery Unit identifies a specific delivery area within the associated FSA.

Location Quotient

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Location Quotient (LQ) estimate measures a local area's share of total employment in an industry or occupation relative to the nation's share of total employment in that same industry or occupation. LQs greater than 1.0 highlight higher concentrations of employment specialization while LQs below 1.0 reveal which industries or occupations are below the national average. The formula used to determine the LQ for an industry or occupation is the same (substituting occupation data for industry):

Learn more with the Use and interpret Civilian Labor Force data tutorial.

Maintainer

[Canada] Also known as a household maintainer. A person age 15+ residing in a household who is responsible to pay the rent, mortgage, taxes, services, or utilities. When multiple people contribute to these payments, more than one person in the household may be identified as a household maintainer. For purposes of the Census, the first person listed on the Census record is identified as the primary maintainer by default. If no person is identified as making such payments, the maintainer is identified by default.

Market area

A market area is an area of people who are likely to purchase your goods or services. Market areas can be determined by the number of customers and any other information about them. For example, for a coffee shop, the market area may be the number of college students within three miles of a store location.

Market Potential data

[United States] Esri's Market Potential database estimates U.S. demand for more than 2,400 products, services, buying styles, activities, values, and general attitudes. For every product, Esri provides two consumer demand measures:

• Expected Number of Consumers (Buyers)—The expected number of consumers (adults or households) in an area likely to buy or own a product, have specific behaviors, or hold certain attitudes.
• Market Potential Index (MPI)—The MPI estimate measures how a local area compares to the U.S. to help answer questions about the data, for example, Is this region more or less likely than the rest of the U.S. to own two or more automobiles? How does this region rate buying organic food compared to national attitudes? ​ MPI values that equal 100 represent national demand. Values greater than 100 represent higher demand, while values less than 100 represent lower demand.

Estimates are based on a combination of ArcGIS Tapestry data and the most current Survey of the American Consumer Doublebase® from MRI-Simmons. (The Doublebase is an integration of information from four consumer surveys, composed of continuously fielded annual surveys of 50,000+ U.S. adults). Learn more with the Use and interpret Market Potential data tutorial.

Median

[Puerto Rico; United States] A value that divides a distribution into two equal parts. A median is a positional measure that is unaffected by extremely high or low values in a distribution that may affect an average. For more information about medians, see Understanding Medians (PDF).

Median age

[Puerto Rico; United States] Median age is calculated from the distribution of age by five-year groups. See the related term Age.

Median home value

[Puerto Rico; United States] This estimate divides the distribution of home value into two equal parts. Linear interpolation is used if the median home value is below $1,000,000. If the median is in the upper home value interval of $1,000,000 or more, it is represented by $1,000,001. See the related term Home value.

Median household income

[Puerto Rico; United States] This is the value that divides the distribution of household income into two equal parts. Pareto interpolation is used if the median is in an income interval other than the first or last. For the lowest interval, less than $10,000, linear interpolation is used. If the median is in the upper income interval of $500,000 or more, it is represented by the value of $500,001. See the related term Income.

Metropolitan statistical area

[Puerto Rico; United States] A statistical region in the United States that contains at least one city or urbanized area with 50,000 or more inhabitants; the region also includes the adjacent communities that are both economically and socially integrated with the core area. Metropolitan statistical areas were originally defined in 1990 by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by U.S. statistical agencies, such as the U.S. Census Bureau.

Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas use the five-digit geographic codes for the Core Based Statistical Area assigned by the Office of Management and Budget.

Micropolitan statistical area

[Puerto Rico; United States] A statistical region in the United States that contains at least one core urban area with a population between 10,000 and 50,000 and the adjacent communities that are economically and socially integrated with the core area. Micropolitan statistical areas are defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal statistical agencies, including the U.S. Census Bureau.

Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas use the five-digit geographic codes for the Core Based Statistical Area assigned by the Office of Management and Budget.

Minor Civil Division (MCD)

[Puerto Rico; United States] The primary governmental or administrative division of a county or county equivalent in the United States and Puerto Rico, such as barrios, boroughs, charter townships, election precincts, reservations, and townships, for which the U.S. Census Bureau provides census data. MCDs are used in 29 states, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories; the District of Columbia is equivalent to an MCD for statistical purposes.

Minor Civil Divisions have a five-digit geographic code, typically combined with the state and county code, resulting in a unique ten-digit MCD code.

Mobility Status (one or five year)

[Canada] Refers to the place of residence of the respondent on the reference date (Census day) in relation to their place of residence on the same date either one year or five years earlier.

Mortgage payment

[Puerto Rico; United States] The regular monthly amount required to be paid to the lender for the first mortgage (deed of trust, contract to purchase, or similar debt) on the property.

Mother Tongue

[Canada] Generally, the first or most frequently spoken language learned at home in early childhood and still understood by the respondent. A person has more than one mother tongue only if multiple languages were spoken equally at home in early childhood and the respondent has retained fluency in these.

Neighborhood

[Puerto Rico; United States] A geographic region derived from the ATTOM Data Neighborhood and Residential Subdivision Boundary Project, a nationwide, hierarchical dataset of neighborhood names and boundaries that reflect the consensus of local residents. For example, Denver, Colorado's LoDo district—an abbreviation of Lower Downtown—is well known to locals as a specific region in the heart of the city.

Net worth

[Puerto Rico; United States] Net worth equals total household assets less any debts, secured or unsecured. Assets include ownership of homes, rental properties, businesses, individual retirement accounts and Keogh accounts, pension plans, stocks, mutual funds, and motor vehicles. Examples of secured debt include home mortgages and vehicle loans; unsecured debt includes credit cards and other bills or certain bank loans. Esri reports net worth for 12 intervals and for seven age of householder groups by 10 net worth intervals.

Nonfamily householder

[Puerto Rico; United States] A nonfamily householder is a householder living alone or with unrelated people only.

Occupied housing unit

[Puerto Rico; United States] A housing unit is classified as occupied if it is the usual place of residence of the person or group of people living in it at the time of enumeration.

Owner household

[Canada] A private household where some member of the household owns the dwelling, even if it is still being paid for.

Owner-occupied housing unit

[Puerto Rico; United States] A housing unit where the owner or co-owner lives in the unit—even if it is mortgaged or not fully paid for.

Participation Rate

[Canada] Refers to those actively working in the labor force during the week of Sunday, May 2, to Saturday, May 8, 2021, expressed as a percentage of population (or a subset of population) age 15+.

Per capita income

[Puerto Rico; United States] The average income for total population calculated from the aggregate income of persons age 15+. See the related term Income.

Percent of Income for Mortgage

[United States] Esri's Percent of Income for Mortgage (POIFM) is similar to Esri's Housing Affordability Index, except it measures affordability from a monthly budget perspective. POIFM measures the percentage of median household income in an area dedicated to mortgage payments on a median valued home in the area. POIFM values higher than the U.S. POIFM identify that a larger share of median income is required to cover a mortgage payment relative to the nation. Values below the U.S. identify areas where a lower share of median income is required. For example, a POIFM value of 18 percent means, on average, households spend 18 percent of their income on mortgage payments. In 2021, the POIFM for the U.S. was 17.1 percent.

POIFM is not applicable in areas with no households or in predominantly rental markets, and POIFM does not include home insurance, private mortgage insurance, or property taxes. Esri's home value estimates include owner-occupied homes only.

Learn more about Housing Affordability in the U.S.

Place

A geographic location combined with its unique physical and social attributes. A place can be a natural or cultural feature of almost any spatial extent—such as a building, a neighborhood, an ocean, or a mountain, and can also be temporary—such as a street market.

[Puerto Rico; United States] A geographic region that can include incorporated places (usually cities, towns, villages, or boroughs), census-designated places, and portions of consolidated cities. Places have a five-digit geographic code that is usually combined with the two-digit state code, resulting in a unique seven-digit Place code.

Population

The total number of residents in an area. Residence refers to the usual place where a person lives, which is not necessarily their permanent or legal residence. For example, college students are usually counted where they attend school.

Population by Generation

[United States] Esri provides six generational classifications. Born over similar spans of time, generational cohorts typically share the same life stage and life experiences. Generations are defined as follows:

• Generation Alpha (born 2017 or later)
• Generation Z (born 1999 to 2016)
• Millennials (born 1981 to 1998)
• Generation X (born 1965 to 1980)
• Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964)
• Silent and Greatest Generations (born 1945 or earlier)

Population Centre (POPCTR)

[Canada] A statistical region with a population of at least 1,000 and a population density of 400 persons or more per square kilometer, based on population counts from the most recent Census. All areas outside Population Centres are classified as Rural Areas (RA). Taken together, Population Centres and Rural Areas cover all of Canada.

Population Centres are classified into three groups based on population counts:

• Small—Population between 1,000 and 29,999
• Medium—Population between 30,000 and 99,999
• Large—Population over 100,000

Postal Code

A series of letters or numbers—or both—in a specific format, used by the postal service of a country to divide geographic areas into zones to simplify delivery of mail.

[Canada] A postal region representing every postal address in Canada. Postal Codes are a two-part, six-character alphanumeric sequence composed of a Forward Sortation Area (FSA) and a Local Delivery Unit (LDU) in the format FSA LDU. A Postal Code is assigned to one or more postal addresses in a specific delivery area to identify the various processing and delivery facilities, post offices, and local delivery areas.

Postal region

A geographic area designated by postal service providers (which may or may not be government agencies) and shipping carriers to administer shipping, mail delivery, and logistics.

Province (PR) and territory

[Canada] Province and territory refer to the major administrative regions of Canada. Canada is divided into 10 provinces and three territories. From a statistical point of view, province and territory are the basic areas for which data is tabulated.

Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA)

[Puerto Rico; United States] A non-overlapping, statistical division of states or equivalent entities in the United States, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Island Territories that contain no fewer than 100,000 people. PUMAs are created in collaboration with State Data Centers (SDCs) and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for the tabulation and distribution of census data and interim estimates. While PUMAs are part of the geographic inventory for which the Census Bureau tabulates and releases data, they are uniquely important as the most detailed areas referenced in publicly available microdata files, such as the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data from the American Community Survey.

PUMAs are delineated once a decade following the decennial census and remain stable throughout the decade. They are established from counties or census tracts and nest within states with effort made to limit them to fewer than 200,000 people unless significant population decline through the decade is anticipated. It is also encouraged that PUMAs compose areas entirely inside or outside a CBSA and that they do not split urban areas. For PUMAs composed of county parts (tracts), each unique PUMA-county part must have a population of at least 10,000.

Researchers often use PUMA in tandem with the PUMS files that contain individual untabulated records with information about individual people and housing units. PUMS files help researchers create custom estimates that are not available in the ACS pre-tabulated data products and establish models of individual or housing level data. Each record in the PUMS files references the PUMA geographic identifier

PUMAs have a five-character geographic code (or identifier) that is typically combined with the two-digit state code, resulting in a unique seven-character alphanumeric code in the format SSPPPPP where S=State and P=Puma. Each 5-character PUMA code must be unique within states or state equivalents. PUMA codes are assigned sequentially beginning in the northwest corner of the state. When the 4th and 5th characters in the PUMA code are 00, the PUMA consists of either an entire county or a group of counties. For PUMAs that split a county or group of counties, the 4th and 5th characters increment up from 01, indicating that the PUMA is composed of one or more split counties.

Purchasing Power (PP)

Purchasing power is generally known as the monetary value of goods and services at a specific point in time as influenced by inflation.

[Standard demographics] Purchasing Power refers to the disposable income of private households (for example, income after deduction of taxes and obligatory social contributions, including received transfer payments) of a certain region’s population. Consequently, Purchasing Power consists of net incomes from employment and assets (after deduction of taxes and obligatory social contributions), pensions, unemployment benefits, benefit payments, and other national transfer payments. For more information, see Our Definition of Purchasing Power/Income Data from Michael Bauer International GmbH.

Race

[Puerto Rico; United States] The U.S. Census uses six self-identified race categories, which result in 63 possible race combinations. U.S. race categories are White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and some other race for people who do not identify with one of the specified groups.

Note:

The U.S. Census identifies Hispanic origin as an ethnicity. People of Hispanic origin can be of any race.

Regional County Municipality (RCM)

[Canada] An administrative region consisting of the consolidated territory of one or more municipalities and, in some cases, unorganized territories, governed by a law of general application. Geographic RCMs include legal RCMs and territories equivalent to an RCM, as well as Indigenous communities and northern villages on the perimeter of an RCM or that constitute equivalent territories.

RCMs provide services that benefit the municipalities within their boundaries, such as regional planning, economic development, waste management, public transit, and emergency services.

Renter household

[Canada] A private household where no member of the household owns their dwelling. The dwelling is considered to be rented even if no cash rent is paid.

Renter-occupied housing units

[Puerto Rico; United States] All occupied housing units that are not owner occupied, whether they are rented or occupied without payment of rent, are classified as renter-occupied units.

Rent burdened households

[United States] Households that spend 35 percent or more of their income on gross rent. See the related terms Household income and Gross rent.

Rural Area (RA)

[Canada] All territory lying outside a Population Centre (POPCTR). Taken together, Population Centres and Rural Areas cover all of Canada. Rural population includes all population living in rural areas of Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) and Census Agglomerations (CA) as well as population living in rural areas outside of CMAs and CAs.

School district

[United States] An administrative region in the United States designated by local and state officials to organize and manage public education. In many parts of the country, a school district aligns with place or county boundaries. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains information about school district boundaries for the purpose of helping the U.S. Department of Education properly allocate Title 1 funding. Districts are categorized based on the grade ranges for which the district is financially responsible. These may or may not be the same as the grade ranges that a school district operates:

• Elementary School District—Responsible for school children starting in kindergarten or pre-kindergarten. Generally, if an elementary school district exists in an area, there may or may not be a secondary school district.
• Secondary School District—Generally responsible for high school education but some are also responsible for grades 6-8.
• Unified School District—Sometimes also known as a Unit or Union School District. Provides education to children of all school ages. In general, if an area is covered by a unified school district, no elementary or secondary school district exists.

The U.S. Department of Education is responsible for issuing and maintaining geographic codes for elementary, secondary, and unified school districts throughout the nation. These codes are typically five-digits and are combined with the two-digit state code, resulting in a unique seven-digit school district code in the format SSEEEEE where S=State and E=School district.

Segmentation

[Puerto Rico; United States] Segmentation is the process of dividing a large group into smaller groups (segments) based on shared characteristics. Segmentation can be used to understand and explain customer diversity, develop campaigns, and describe lifestyle and life stage across different groups. See ArcGIS Tapestry for more information.

Share ratios

[Puerto Rico; United States] See instead Income Inequality Ratios.

Socioeconomic Status Index

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Socioeconomic Status Index (SEI) quantifies an area's socioeconomic status, which is the intersection of sociological and economic characteristics that are indicative of social position relative to others. This measure is derived from a mix of input variables from Esri and the American Community Survey (ACS) on topics such as income and poverty, employment and occupation, educational attainment, and household characteristics. The SEI ranges from 0 to 100, where larger values indicate higher socioeconomic status. Reviewing and comparing SEI values can highlight important disparities in social position. See Esri Updated Demographics for more information about Esri Demographics variables.

State

An autonomous political and administrative division of geography.

[Puerto Rico; United States] The largest legal/administrative division of United States geography. States and state equivalent areas are identified by a two-digit geographic code. Esri categorizes Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia as state-equivalent areas.

State legislative district

[Puerto Rico; United States] An administrative region in Puerto Rico and the United States from which voters elect representatives to state or state-equivalent legislatures. Each district sends one or more representative to the state house (lower chamber—SLDL) and senate (upper chamber—SLDU). Members of the smaller upper chamber typically represent more people and usually serve longer than members of the larger lower chamber.

Through the Redistricting Data Program, the U.S. Census Bureau updates state legislative districts every two years. Nearly all state legislatures include both chambers, with districts for each represented by separate upper and lower layers in Esri software. Exceptions to this are Nebraska, which has a unicameral legislature, and the District of Columbia, which has a single council. In both instances, the U.S. Census Bureau treats these as upper-chamber legislative areas (therefore, neither Nebraska nor the District of Columbia has lower house state legislative districts). In terms of Esri software, this means that the lower chamber state legislative district layer does not completely cover the United States.

State Legislative Districts are represented by a three-digit geographic code combined with the state or state equivalent code in the format SSDDD, where S=State and D=District. For example, the geographic code for Texas State Senate District 14 is 48014 where 48 is the Texas state geographic code and 014 is the code for upper state legislative district 14.

Statistical region

An arbitrary spatial area, typically defined by agencies such as regional census administrations, for the purpose of census counts, statistical data oversight, or demographics. A statistical region may or may not have a hierarchical structure.

Tapestry Segmentation data

[Puerto Rico; United States] ArcGIS Tapestry data provides detailed summaries of communities across the United States. Residential areas are grouped into segments based on shared demographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle characteristics. Neighborhoods with the most similar characteristics are grouped together, and neighborhoods showing divergent characteristics are separated.

Tessellation

A surface or area that is covered with one or more repeating geometric shapes, such as 2D tiles or 3D blocks, with no overlap or gaps.

Tribal Block Group

[United States] A statistical subdivision of Tribal Census Tracts developed by the U.S. Census Bureau in partnership with tribal officials through the Tribal Statistical Areas Program. Tribal Block Groups typically contain approximately 600 to 3,000 people. Tribal Block Groups are applicable only to federally recognized American Indian reservations and off-reservation trust lands and exist independently of Census Block Groups.

Tribal Block Groups use a single character geographic code consisting of a capital letter A-K; the code is always appended after the four-digit AIANNH code and six-character Tribal Census Tract code, resulting in a unique eleven-character Tribal Block Group code.

Tribal Census Tract

[United States] A statistical subdivision of federally recognized tribal regions, including American Indian Reservations and off-reservation trust lands. Tribal Census Tracts are created by the U.S. Census Bureau in partnership with tribal officials through the Tribal Statistical Areas Program. Unlike Census Tracts, Tribal Census Tracts can cross state and county boundaries. A Tribal Census Tract typically contains approximately 1,200 to 8,000 people.

Tribal Census Tracts have a six-character alphanumeric geographic code that always begins with the letter T followed by five digits. The final two digits are reserved for potential tract splits. Tribal Census Tract codes are usually appended after the four-digit AIANNH code, resulting in a unique ten-character code.

Tribal region

[United States] A geographic region in the United States where Native American tribes live or are historically associated, often encompassing a federally recognized reservation or land held in trust, or a designated statistical area. Census geography specific to Native American tribal lands combines statistically significant sample data for small areas within Tribal regions. These U.S. Census Bureau geographic areas—such as Tribal Block Groups or American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Areas—often cross standard administrative boundaries, such as state or county borders, that are not statistically meaningful for this population, which differs from standard census Block Groups or Census Tracts.

Type of Union

[Canada] Refers to the nature of the relationship between the members of a couple. Specifically, type of union indicates whether the members of a couple are legally married to each other or are living in a common law relationship.

Unemployment rate

[Puerto Rico; United States] The unemployment rate provides a direct measure of joblessness in an area. The rate represents the total number of unemployed persons as a percentage of the civilian labor force. The rate is calculated using unemployed persons aged 16 years and older divided by employed plus unemployed population.

U.S. Census

[Puerto Rico; United States] The U.S. Census takes place every 10 years. It is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and counts every resident in the United States. Census data is used to distribute federal funds to local communities and determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is used by businesses and local and state governments to analyze the underlying demographics of an area.

• Census 2010—The data derived from Census 2010 differed from previous census years. The most significant change was due to the U.S. Census Bureau's decision to stop using the long form questionnaire. The short census questionnaire provides complete population, household, and housing unit counts—along with the following demographic characteristics: sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, household relationship, occupancy, and tenure. All other variables that were previously collected using the Census long form, including data about income, education, employment, language, migration, citizenship, marital status, and housing characteristics (such as value and rent), are now obtained from the American Community Survey (ACS), which is separate from Census 2010. This census also included changes to geography.
• Census 2020—The 2020 Census was a departure from previous decennial censuses in several ways. First, decennial census operations were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, delaying data product releases. Second, a new disclosure avoidance system (DAS), also known as differential privacy, was introduced with this decennial census that adds noise (or false/buffer data) into the statistics to protect individual privacy (particularly in smaller communities). Third, 2020 Census data products have changed. The data that was previously known in the 2010 Census and prior years as Summary File 1 and Summary File 2 have been renamed the Demographic and Housing and Characteristics (or DHC) file and the Detailed Demographic and Housing and Characteristics (or DDHC) file. The volume of data tables and geographic granularity in these two files are subject to constraints set by the DAS. For more information about these changes, see the 2020 Census Esri Methodology Statement.

For more information about Census geography, see Understanding Esri Geography.

Vacant housing units

[Puerto Rico; United States] A vacant housing unit is classified as no one living in the dwelling, unless its occupant or occupants are only temporarily absent—such as away on vacation, in the hospital for a short stay, or on a business trip—and will be returning.

Variable

A symbol or quantity that can represent any value or set of values, such as a text string or number. Variables may change depending on how they are used and applied. Variables are also known as fields, attributes, or columns.

Vintage

A vintage is typically the year that the data represents. For example, a vintage of 2016 means that the data represents the year 2016. Forecast vintages represent data projections, such as five-year forecasts. A forecast vintage is often part of a dataset in recognizable cadences, such as 5, 10, and 20-year forecasts. Data released frequently—such as quarterly—may have a month and year vintage, such as June 2025.

Visible Minority

[Canada] Refers to whether a person is a visible minority or not, as defined by the Employment Equity Act of Canada, which states that visible minorities are "persons other than Aboriginal peoples who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour."

Wealth Index

[Puerto Rico; United States] Esri's Wealth Index estimate measures the wealth of an area relative to the national level. Values exceeding 100 represent above-average wealth. Estimates are compiled from a number of indicators of affluence that include average household income and average net worth. The concept of wealth is defined by more than above-average household income. Wealth also includes the value of material possessions and resources. Esri captures both income and the accumulation of substantial wealth, or the abundance of possessions and resources, in its identification of the wealthiest areas in the country.

ZIP code (ZP)

[Puerto Rico; United States] ZIP is an acronym for zone improvement plan. A five-digit code, developed by the U.S. Postal Service, which identifies the United States or Puerto Rican geographic delivery area served by an individual post office or metropolitan area delivery station. ZIP codes do not represent standard census geographic areas for data reporting, are not contiguous with census geographic areas, and are not stable over time.