View source for Census-designated place

{{short description|Concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau}}
{{Other uses|CDP (disambiguation){{!}}CDP}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}{{Administrative divisions of the United States}}

A '''census-designated place''' ('''CDP''')<ref name="USCB"/><ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/><ref name="Federal Register"/> is a [[Place (United States Census Bureau)|concentration of population]] defined by the [[United States Census Bureau]] for statistical purposes only. The U.S. Census Bureau defines a CDP as a "statistical geography representing closely settled, unincorporated communities that are locally recognized and identified by name."<ref name=CDPCriteria>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= Census Designated Places |website=[[United States Census Bureau]]|date= |url= https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/bas/information/cdp.html |accessdate=October 18, 2025|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref>

CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of [[incorporated place]]s,<ref>{{cite web| title=Glossary| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/index.htm#glossary.htm | work=American FactFinder| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau| access-date=December 11, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208124000/http://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/index.htm#glossary.htm |archive-date= Feb 8, 2015 }}</ref> such as self-governing [[city (United States)|cities]], [[town (United States)|town]]s, and [[village (United States)|village]]s, for the purposes of gathering and correlating statistical data. CDPs are populated areas that generally include one officially designated but currently [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] community, for which the CDP is named, and may include surrounding inhabited countryside of varying dimensions and, occasionally, other, smaller unincorporated communities. CDPs include small rural communities, [[Edge city|edge cities]], [[colonia (United States)|colonia]]s located along the [[Mexico–United States border]], and unincorporated [[resort]]s and [[retirement community|retirement communities]] and their environs. The boundaries of any CDP may change from decade to decade, and the Census Bureau may de-establish a CDP after a period of study, then re-establish it some decades later. Most unincorporated areas within the United States are not and have not been included in any CDP.<ref name="Census2010">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2008-02-13/pdf/E8-2667.pdf|title=Census Designated Place (CDP) Program for the 2010 Census – Final Criteria|date=February 13, 2008|work=[[Federal Register]] (Volume 73, Number 30)|access-date=March 31, 2016}}</ref>

The boundaries of a CDP have no legal status<ref name="USCB">{{Cite web | url = https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/gtc/gtc_place.html |date=  December 6, 2012 | title = Geographic Terms and Concepts – Place | publisher = United States Census Bureau | access-date = December 11, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221174415/https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/gtc/gtc_place.html |archive-date= Dec 21, 2014 }}</ref> and may not always correspond with the local understanding of the area or community with the same name.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} However, criteria established for the [[2010 United States census|2010 census]] require that a CDP name "be one that is recognized and used in daily communication by the residents of the community" (not "a name developed solely for planning or other purposes") and recommend that a CDP's boundaries be mapped based on the geographic extent associated with inhabitants' regular use of the named place. There is no provision, however, that this name recognition be unanimous for all residents, or that all residents use the community for which the CDP is named for services provided therein. There is no mandatory correlation between CDP names or boundaries and those established for other human purposes, such as post office names or zones, political precincts, or school districts.<ref name="Census2010"/>

Although census-designated places are not considered incorporated places, the Census Bureau includes CDPs in its city population list for [[Hawaii]] because that state has no incorporated cities.<ref name=PopEstBigDens>{{Cite web | url = https://www.census.gov/statab/ccdb/cit1040a.txt | title = Cities with 100,000 or More Population in 2000 ranked by Population per Square Mile, 2000 in Alphabetic Order | publisher = [[United States Census Bureau]], Population Division | date = July 10, 2008 | access-date = July 13, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20021226215307/http://www.census.gov/statab/ccdb/cit1040a.txt | archive-date = December 26, 2002 | url-status = dead }}</ref> In addition, census city lists from 2007 included [[Arlington County, Virginia]]'s CDP in the list with the incorporated places,<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2006-04-51.csv | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071105221856/http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2006-04-51.csv | url-status = dead | archive-date = November 5, 2007 | title = Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Virginia | publisher = United States Census Bureau | access-date = September 11, 2008 }}</ref> but since 2010, only the Urban Honolulu CDP, Hawaii, representing the historic core of [[Honolulu|Honolulu, Hawaii]], is shown in the city and town estimates.

==History==
The Census Bureau reported data for some unincorporated places as early as the [[1790 United States census|first census in 1790]] (for example, [[Louisville, Kentucky]], which was not legally incorporated in Kentucky until 1828), though usage continued to develop through the [[1890 United States census|1890 census]], in which the census mixed unincorporated places with incorporated places in its products with "town" or "village" as its label.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> This made it confusing to determine which of the "towns" were or were not incorporated.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places">[https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf "Chapter 9 – Places" in ''Geographic Areas Reference Manual''], [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed November 19, 2016.</ref>

The [[1900 United States census|1900]] through [[1930 United States census|1930 censuses]] did not report data for unincorporated places.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/>

For the [[1940 United States census|1940 census]], the Census Bureau compiled a separate report of unofficial, unincorporated communities of 500 or more people.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> The Census Bureau officially defined this category as "unincorporated places" in the [[1950 United States census|1950 census]] and used that term through the 1970 census.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> For the 1950 census, these types of places were identified only outside "[[List of United States urban areas|urbanized area]]s".<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> In [[1960 United States census|1960]], the Census Bureau also identified unincorporated places inside urbanized areas (except in [[New England]], whose political geography is based on the [[New England town]], and is distinctly different from other areas of the U.S.), but with a population of at least 10,000.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> For the [[1970 United States census|1970 census]], the population threshold for "unincorporated places" in urbanized areas was reduced to 5,000.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/>

For the [[1980 United States census|1980 census]], the designation was changed to "census designated places"<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> and the designation was made available for places inside urbanized areas in New England.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> For the [[1990 United States census|1990 census]], the population threshold for CDPs in urbanized areas was reduced to 2,500.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> From 1950 through 1990, the Census Bureau specified other population requirements for unincorporated places or CDPs in [[Alaska]], [[Puerto Rico]], island areas, and [[Indian reservation|Native American reservation]]s. Minimum population criteria for CDPs were dropped with the [[2000 United States census|2000 census]].<ref name="Federal Register">U.S. Bureau of the Census, "[http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-6465.pdf Census Designated Place (CDP) Program for the 2010 Census — Proposed Criteria]", 72 ''Federal Register'' 17326-17329, April 6, 2007.</ref><ref name="Census2010" />

The Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) allows designated participants to propose new CDPS as well as review and suggest modifications to the boundaries of existing CDPs.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.census.gov/geo/www/psap2010/psap2010_main.html | archive-url  =https://web.archive.org/web/20060929001940/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/psap2010/psap2010_main.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = September 29, 2006 | title = Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) | publisher = United States Census Bureau | access-date = March 9, 2008 }}</ref> The PSAP was to be offered to county and municipal planning agencies in 2008.

==Effects of designation and examples==
The boundaries of such places are typically defined in cooperation with local county or tribal officials, but are not fixed, and do not affect the status of local government or incorporation; the territories thus defined are strictly statistical entities. CDP boundaries may change from one census to the next to reflect changes in settlement patterns.<ref name="USCB"/><ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> Further, as statistical entities, the boundaries of the CDP may not correspond with 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.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}

CDPs are treated in the same way as incorporated entities and appear 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.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/>

The population and [[demographics]] of the CDP are included in the data of county subdivisions containing the CDP. Generally, a CDP shall not be defined within the boundaries of what the Census Bureau regards to be an incorporated city, village or borough.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/> However, the Census Bureau considers some towns in New England states, [[New Jersey]] and [[New York (state)|New York]] as well as townships in some other states as MCDs, even though they are [[municipal corporation|incorporated municipalities]] in those states. In such states, CDPs may be defined within such towns or spanning the boundaries of multiple towns.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/>

==Purpose of designation==
There are a number of reasons for the CDP designation:
* The area may be more urban than its surroundings, having a concentration of population with a definite residential nucleus, such as [[Whitmore Lake, Michigan]]; [[Hershey, Pennsylvania]]; [[Metairie, Louisiana]]; and [[The Villages, Florida]] (the latter CDP covering only a portion of the overall community).
* A formerly incorporated place may disincorporate or be partly [[annexation|annexed]] by a neighboring town, but the former town or a part of it may still be reported by the census as a CDP by meeting criteria for a CDP. Examples are the former village of [[Covedale, Cincinnati, Ohio|Covedale (village in Ohio)]], compared with [[Covedale (CDP), Ohio]], or the former village of [[Seneca Falls (CDP), New York]], disincorporated in 2011.
* The area may contain an easily recognizable institution, usually occupying a large land area, with an identity distinct from the surrounding community. This could apply to some college campuses and large [[military base]]s (or parts of a military base) that are not within the limits of any existing community, such as [[Notre Dame, Indiana]]; [[Stanford, California]] (which houses the [[Stanford University]] campus); [[Fort Campbell North, Kentucky]]; and [[Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri]].<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/>
* In other cases, the boundary of an incorporated place may bisect a recognized community. An example of this is [[Bostonia, California]], which straddles the city limits of [[El Cajon, California|El Cajon]]. The [[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] places the nucleus of Bostonia within El Cajon. The Bostonia CDP covers the greater El Cajon area in unincorporated [[San Diego County]] that is generally north of that part of Bostonia within El Cajon.
* In some states, a CDP may be defined within an incorporated municipality that (for the purposes of the census) is regarded as a [[minor civil division]]. For example, all [[New England town|towns in New England]] are incorporated municipalities, but may also include both rural and urban areas. CDPs may be defined to describe urbanized areas within such municipalities, as in the case of [[North Amherst, Massachusetts]].
* [[Hawaii]] is the only state that has no incorporated places recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau below the county level. All data for places in Hawaii reported by the census are CDPs.<ref name="GARM Chapter 9 - Places"/>
* A few CDPs represent an aggregation of several nearby communities - for example, [[Shorewood–Tower Hills–Harbert, Michigan]], or [[Egypt Lake-Leto, Florida]]. However, the Census Bureau discontinued this method for most CDPs during the [[2010 United States census|2010 census]].<ref name="Census2010"/>
* In rare cases, a CDP was also defined for the urbanized area surrounding an incorporated municipality, but which is outside the municipal boundaries, for example, [[Greater Galesburg, Michigan]], or [[Greater Upper Marlboro, Maryland]]. This practice was discontinued in [[2010 United States census|2010]].<ref name="Census2010"/>
* In some states, the Census Bureau designates entire minor civil divisions (MCD) with an urban or suburban character as CDPs. Examples include [[West Bloomfield Township, Michigan]] (now listed as a [[Charter township]]) or [[Reading, Massachusetts]] (listed as a [[New England town]] and as a CDP). Such designations were used in states where the MCDs function with strong governmental authority and provide services equivalent to an incorporated municipality (New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin). MCDs appear in a separate category in census data from places (i.e., incorporated places and CDPs); however, when MCDs strongly resemble incorporated places, CDPs coterminous with the MCDs are defined so that such places appear in both categories of census data.<ref name="Census2010"/>

==Criteria for determining a CDP==
Census Bureau criteria and guidelines specify that CDPs:<ref name=CDPCriteria/>
*Constitute a single, named, contiguous geographic area containing a mix of residential, nonresidential, and commercial uses. Some predominantly residential communities may also be recognized as CDPs.
*Cannot be partially or entirely within an incorporated place or another CDP.
*Can be located in more than one county but cannot cross state boundaries.
*Contain at least some population or housing units. The Census Bureau may request a justification for CDPs delineated with fewer than ten housing units.
*May not have the same name as an adjacent or nearby incorporated place. Adding a directional to the name to differentiate is not acceptable if that name is not in local use.
*Can have a name change if the new name provides a better identification of the community.
*Boundaries should follow visible features such as roads, rivers, railroads, or nonvisible features such as parcel boundaries, adjacent incorporated place boundaries, or other Census Bureau geographies (e.g., school district boundaries, block group boundaries, etc.).

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Politics}}
* [[Census county division]]
* [[Designated place]], a counterpart in the Canadian census
* [[Place (United States Census Bureau)#Incorporated place|Incorporated place]]
* [[Unincorporated area]]
* [[Human settlement#United States|Populated place]], used by the United States Board on Geographic Names
* [[ZIP Code Tabulation Area]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130911023515/https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cbf/cbf_place.html Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles – Places (Incorporated Places and Census Designated Places)]". Cartographic Operations Branch, December 11, 2014.
* U.S. Census Bureau, {{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/psapage.html#CDP |title=Census 2000 Statistical Areas Boundary Criteria |access-date=April 8, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115104522/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/psapage.html#CDP |archive-date=November 15, 2012}}, Census Designated Places (CDPs) – Census 2000 Criteria.
* U.S. Census Bureau, ''[https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geographic-areas-reference-manual.html Geographic Areas Reference Manual]'', United States Department of Commerce.

{{Lists of CDPs by state}}
{{USCensus Geography}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in the United States| ]]
[[Category:United States Census Bureau geography]]
[[Category:1980 establishments in the United States]]