Place (United States Census Bureau)
Encyclopedia
The United States Census Bureau
defines the term place as a concentration of population. The types of places defined by the Census Bureau are incorporated place, such as a city
, town
or village
, and census designated place
(CDP), which resembles a city, town or village but lacks its own government. The concentration of population must have a name, be locally recognized, and not be part of any other place. Places typically have a residential nucleus, a closely spaced street pattern and frequently have commercial or other urban types of land use. Incorporated places are defined by the laws of the states that they are in. The Census Bureau designates criteria for delineating CDPs. A small settlement in the open countryside or the densely settled fringe of a large city may not be a place as defined by the Census Bureau. As of the 1990 Census, 26% of people in the United States did not live in places.
under state
law as a city, town (except the New England
states, New York
, and Wisconsin
), borough (except in Alaska
and New York), or village and having legally prescribed limits, powers, and functions. Requirements for incorporation vary widely among the states; some states have few specific criteria, while others have established population thresholds and occasionally other conditions (for example, minimum land area, population density, and distance from other existing incorporated places) that must be met for incorporation.
The Census Bureau recognizes incorporated places in all States except Hawaii
; for Hawaii, by agreement with the Office of the Governor, the Census Bureau recognizes all places as census-designated places (CDPs) rather than as incorporated places. Puerto Rico
and several of the outlying areas under United States jurisdiction (such as Guam
and the Northern Mariana Islands
) also have no incorporated places.
Different states use a variety of terms for their incorporated places. The designations "city", "town", "village", and "borough" are most frequent, but one or more places in Kentucky
, Montana
, Nevada
, and Tennessee
have place-type governments (usually consolidated ones) that do not have any of these designations. New Jersey
is the only state that has all four kinds of incorporated places. Only two other states (Connecticut
and Pennsylvania
) include "boroughs" as incorporated places. Eleven states have only "cities", and the remainder of the States have various combinations of "cities", "towns", and "villages".
Not all entities designated as "towns" and "boroughs" are considered by the Census Bureau to be places. In the six New England states, and in New York and Wisconsin, the term "town" refers to what the Census Bureau classifies as a Minor Civil Division
(MCD) rather than a place. The MCDs in these States, while often functioning with all the powers of city governments, can contain considerable rural area; outside of New England, other units of government perform the incorporated place function. In Alaska
, the term "borough" refers to territory governed as a county rather than as a place; in New York, the Census Bureau treats the five boroughs that make up New York City as MCDs.
Although only about one-fifth as numerous as incorporated places (in 1990, of 23,435 "places", 19,289 were incorporated municipalities, and 4,146 were not incorporated municipatlities) CDPs are important geographic units. The CDP permits the tabulation of population counts for many localities that otherwise would have no identity within the Census Bureau's framework of geographic areas. By defining an area as a CDP, that locality then appears in the same category of census data as incorporated places. This distinguishes CDPs from other census classifications, such as minor civil division
s (MCDs), which are in a separate category. In 1990, over 29 million people in the United States resided in CDPs.
uses the term designated place (DPL) for unincorporated population centers. However the criteria for delineating a DPL are different from that for a CDP.
(USGS) for locating named communities, which is intended to be an authoritative reference for a place's location. The central location of a place shown on Census Bureau maps for a community may differ significantly from that on USGS maps for the same place and may even be outside the area that local residents think of as that community. The Census Bureau's location of a place is the approximate geographic center of the polygon making up the boundaries of the place at the time of the decennial census. The USGS location of a populated place
is the center of the original place, if known, such as the city or town hall, main post office, town square or main intersection regardless of changes over time.
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
defines the term place as a concentration of population. The types of places defined by the Census Bureau are incorporated place, such as a city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
, town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
or village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
, and census designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP), which resembles a city, town or village but lacks its own government. The concentration of population must have a name, be locally recognized, and not be part of any other place. Places typically have a residential nucleus, a closely spaced street pattern and frequently have commercial or other urban types of land use. Incorporated places are defined by the laws of the states that they are in. The Census Bureau designates criteria for delineating CDPs. A small settlement in the open countryside or the densely settled fringe of a large city may not be a place as defined by the Census Bureau. As of the 1990 Census, 26% of people in the United States did not live in places.
Incorporated place
An incorporated place, under the Census Bureau's definition, is a type of governmental unit incorporatedMunicipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
under state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
law as a city, town (except the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
states, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
), borough (except in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and New York), or village and having legally prescribed limits, powers, and functions. Requirements for incorporation vary widely among the states; some states have few specific criteria, while others have established population thresholds and occasionally other conditions (for example, minimum land area, population density, and distance from other existing incorporated places) that must be met for incorporation.
The Census Bureau recognizes incorporated places in all States except Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
; for Hawaii, by agreement with the Office of the Governor, the Census Bureau recognizes all places as census-designated places (CDPs) rather than as incorporated places. Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and several of the outlying areas under United States jurisdiction (such as Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
and the Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
) also have no incorporated places.
Different states use a variety of terms for their incorporated places. The designations "city", "town", "village", and "borough" are most frequent, but one or more places in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
have place-type governments (usually consolidated ones) that do not have any of these designations. New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
is the only state that has all four kinds of incorporated places. Only two other states (Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
) include "boroughs" as incorporated places. Eleven states have only "cities", and the remainder of the States have various combinations of "cities", "towns", and "villages".
Not all entities designated as "towns" and "boroughs" are considered by the Census Bureau to be places. In the six New England states, and in New York and Wisconsin, the term "town" refers to what the Census Bureau classifies as a Minor Civil Division
Minor civil division
Minor civil division is a term used by the United States Census Bureau to designate the primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county, such as a civil township, precinct, or magisterial district...
(MCD) rather than a place. The MCDs in these States, while often functioning with all the powers of city governments, can contain considerable rural area; outside of New England, other units of government perform the incorporated place function. In Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, the term "borough" refers to territory governed as a county rather than as a place; in New York, the Census Bureau treats the five boroughs that make up New York City as MCDs.
Census designated place
Census designated places (CDPs) are communities that lack separate municipal governments, and for statistical purposes are defined by the Census Bureau in order to statistically combine and compare populated areas that physically resemble incorporated places. Before each decennial census, CDPs are delineated by State and local agencies, and by tribal officials according to Census Bureau criteria. The resulting CDP delineations are then reviewed and approved by the Census Bureau. The boundaries of a CDP have no legal status and may not correspond with the local understanding of the area with the same name. Recognized communities may be divided into two or more CDPs while on the other hand, two or more communities may be combined into one CDP. A CDP may also cover the unincorporated part of a named community where the rest lies within an incorporated place.Although only about one-fifth as numerous as incorporated places (in 1990, of 23,435 "places", 19,289 were incorporated municipalities, and 4,146 were not incorporated municipatlities) CDPs are important geographic units. The CDP permits the tabulation of population counts for many localities that otherwise would have no identity within the Census Bureau's framework of geographic areas. By defining an area as a CDP, that locality then appears in the same category of census data as incorporated places. This distinguishes CDPs from other census classifications, such as minor civil division
Minor civil division
Minor civil division is a term used by the United States Census Bureau to designate the primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county, such as a civil township, precinct, or magisterial district...
s (MCDs), which are in a separate category. In 1990, over 29 million people in the United States resided in CDPs.
Specific examples
- BostoniaBostonia, CaliforniaBostonia is a census-designated place in San Diego County, California. A neighborhood comprising areas within the city limits of northeast El Cajon, as well as areas of unincorporated San Diego County bears the same name...
, a neighborhood in northeast El Cajon, CaliforniaEl Cajon, California-History:El Cajon is located on the Rancho El Cajon Mexican land grant made in 1845 to María Antonia Estudillo, wife of Miguel Pedrorena. In 1876 Amaziah Lord Knox , a New Englander who had recently moved to California, established a hotel there to serve the growing number of people traveling...
, is an example of a CDP that covers the unincorporated part of a neighborhood that lies partly within an incorporated place. The neighborhood straddles the El Cajon city limits. The USGS places the nucleus of Bostonia well within El Cajon. The Bostonia CDP covers the greater El Cajon area in unincorporated San Diego County generally north of that part of Bostonia within El Cajon. - Shorewood-Tower Hills-Harbert, MichiganShorewood-Tower Hills-Harbert, MichiganShorewood-Tower Hills-Harbert is a census-designated place composed of several small unincorporated communities in Chikaming Township of Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,619 at the 2000 census...
is an example of multiple named unincorporated communities that are combined into one CDP. - Greater Upper Marlboro, MarylandGreater Upper Marlboro, MarylandGreater Upper Marlboro is a census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States that completely surrounds Upper Marlboro, the county seat...
is an example of a CDP covering the unincorporated urbanized area surrounding an incorporated place. The Greater Upper Marlboro CDP completely surrounds Upper MarlboroUpper Marlboro, MarylandUpper Marlboro is a town in and the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The live-in population of the town core proper was only 648 at the 2000 census, although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger....
, the county seat.
Outside the U.S.
Statistics CanadaStatistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
uses the term designated place (DPL) for unincorporated population centers. However the criteria for delineating a DPL are different from that for a CDP.
Geography
The Census Bureau lists a location (latitude and longitude) for each place, although this list is not intended for general use and is part of the Bureau's TIGER mapping system to graphically represent the statistical areas used in census data. The Census Bureau's criteria for establishing the location does not correspond to the criteria used by the United States Geological SurveyUnited States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
(USGS) for locating named communities, which is intended to be an authoritative reference for a place's location. The central location of a place shown on Census Bureau maps for a community may differ significantly from that on USGS maps for the same place and may even be outside the area that local residents think of as that community. The Census Bureau's location of a place is the approximate geographic center of the polygon making up the boundaries of the place at the time of the decennial census. The USGS location of a populated place
Populated place
A populated place is a place or area with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population referenced with geographic coordinates...
is the center of the original place, if known, such as the city or town hall, main post office, town square or main intersection regardless of changes over time.