View source for Census tract

{{about|local statistical divisions|the census areas of Alaska|List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska#Census areas in the Unorganized Borough}}
{{short description|Geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census}}
{{use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{multiple issues|{{Globalize|date=October 2009}}{{More citations needed|date=October 2009}}}}

A '''census tract''', '''census area''', '''census district''', or '''meshblock'''<ref name="statsnz">{{cite web |url=https://datainfoplus.stats.govt.nz/Item/nz.govt.stats/011d668f-1fe2-4820-8957-837aae2bf575 |title=Meshblock (Concept) |date=2016-02-02 |publisher=[[Statistics New Zealand]]}}</ref> is a geographic [[region]] defined for the purpose of taking a [[census]].<ref name="U. S. Census Bureau">{{cite web |url=https://census.gov/geo/www/cen_tract.html |title=Census Tracts and Block Numbering Areas |publisher=U. S. Census Bureau |date=2000-04-19 |access-date=2007-12-05}}</ref> Sometimes these coincide with the [[city limits|limits]] of [[city|cities]], [[town]]s or other administrative areas<ref name="U. S. Census Bureau"/> and several tracts commonly exist within a county. In [[unincorporated area]]s of the United States these are often arbitrary, except for coinciding with [[political geography|political lines]].

Census tracts represent the smallest territorial entity for which population data are available in many countries.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Domínguez-Berjón|first=Felícitas |author2=Borrell, Carme |author3=López, Rosario |author4= Pastor, Vicente |year=2005 |title=Mortality and socioeconomic deprivation in census tracts of an urban setting in Southern Europe |journal=[[Journal of Urban Health]] |volume=82 |issue=2 |pages=225–236 |doi=10.1093/jurban/jti047 |pmc=3456560 |pmid=15888637}}</ref> In the United States, census tracts are subdivided into [[census block group|block groups]] and [[census block]]s. In Canada, they are divided into dissemination areas. In the U.S., census tracts are "designed to be relatively homogeneous units with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions" and "average about 4,000 inhabitants".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/census_tract.htm |title=U.S. Census Bureau definition |access-date=2017-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513191843/https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/census_tract.htm |archive-date=2017-05-13 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==By country==
=== Brazil ===
The [[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics]] uses the term '''census sector''' (''setor censitário'').<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://censo2010.ibge.gov.br/materiais/guia-do-censo/operacao-censitaria.html|title=IBGE {{!}} censo 2010 {{!}} materiais {{!}} guia do Censo {{!}} operação censitária|last=IBGE|website=censo2010.ibge.gov.br|language=pt-br|access-date=2018-06-01}}</ref> As of the 2022 Census, there were approximately 452,000 sectors in Brazil.<ref>{{cite web |title=O que é o setor censitário, medida usada pelo IBGE para fazer o Censo |url=https://g1.globo.com/economia/censo/noticia/2024/03/21/o-que-e-o-setor-censitario-medida-usada-pelo-ibge-para-fazer-o-censo.ghtml |website=G1 |access-date=12 December 2024}}</ref>

=== Canada ===
Since the [[1941 Canadian census|1941 census]], [[Statistics Canada]] has divided [[Census geographic units of Canada|Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) and Census Agglomerations (CAs)]] with core populations over 50,000 into census tracts ({{langx|fr| Secteurs des recensement}}), geographically small areas intended to contain roughly 5,000 to 7,500 people with similar socioeconomic characteristics. Once a CA has been divided into census tracts (CTs), they will be maintained even if the core population of the CA decreases below 50,000 (CMAs are always divided into CTs regardless of population size).<ref name = StatCanEN>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |orig-date=2021-11-17 |date=2022-02-09 |title=Census tract (CT) |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/ref/dict/az/Definition-eng.cfm?ID=geo013 |website=Government of Canada |publisher=Statistics Canada |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250521182445/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/ref/dict/az/Definition-eng.cfm?ID=geo013 |archive-date=2025-05-21 |access-date=2025-05-21}}</ref><ref name = StatCanFR>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |orig-date=2021-11-17 |date=2022-02-09 |title= Secteur de recensement (SR) |url= https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/ref/dict/az/Definition-fra.cfm?ID=geo013 |website=Gouvernement du Canada |language=fr-ca |publisher=Statistiques Canada |url-status=live |archive-url= http://web.archive.org/web/20250521183148/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/ref/dict/az/Definition-fra.cfm?ID=geo013 |archive-date=2025-05-21 |access-date=2025-05-21}}</ref>

=== France ===
In 1999 in France, in order to prepare for the dissemination of the 1999 French population census, INSEE ([[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques]]) developed a system for dividing the country into units of equal size, known as IRIS2000, but now known simply as 'IRIS'.<ref name = iris>{{cite web |url=https://www.insee.fr/en/metadonnees/definition/c1523|title=IRIS. DEFINITIONS. Publication date: 13/10/2016|publisher=INSEE |access-date=2022-05-13}}</ref> The acronym stands for 'Ilots Regroupés pour l'Information Statistique' (‘aggregated units for statistical information')<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/definition/c1523|title=IRIS. DÉFINITIONS. Date de publication : 13/10/2016|publisher=INSEE |access-date=2022-05-13}}</ref> and the 2000 in the name referred not only to the upcoming [[millennium celebrations|millennium]] year but to the target size of 2,000 residents per basic unit. Since 1999, IRIS has represented the fundamental unit for dissemination of infra-municipal data in France and its [[overseas departments and regions of France|overseas departments and regions]]. Towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants, and a large proportion of towns with between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants, are divided into several IRIS units. France is composed of around 16,100 IRIS in total, of which 650 are in the overseas departments.<ref name = iris/> There are 3 types of IRIS unit in use: residential IRIS (pop. between 1,800 and 5,000), business IRIS (containing more than 1,000 employees) and miscellaneous IRIS (specific large zones which are sparsely inhabited and have large surface areas (leisure parks, ports, forests etc.).<ref name = iris/>

=== Ireland ===
In the [[Republic of Ireland]], the [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]] (CSO), established in 1949, organises the census.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Seanad Éireann |title=Statistics Bill, 1993: Second Stage |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1993-06-17/5/ |website=Seanad Éireann debates |publisher=Houses of the Oireachtas |access-date=8 January 2019 |language=en-ie |date=17 June 1993}}</ref> Beginning from the 2011 census, the CSO website has made available "Small Area Population Statistics" (SAPS) for each "'''small area'''", a subdivision of an [[electoral division (Ireland)|electoral division]] (ED) defined by [[Ordnance Survey Ireland]] constrained by natural landscape features.<ref name="datagovie"/> Formerly [[Roads in the Republic of Ireland|main roads]] also constrained the borders but this was changed to increase [[Information privacy|data privacy]].<ref name="datagovie">{{cite web |title=Small Areas Ungeneralised |location=Ireland |url=https://data.gov.ie/dataset/small-areas-ungeneralised-osi-national-statistical-boundaries-2015 |website=data.gov.ie |access-date=8 January 2019 |date=2015 |archive-date=8 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108200737/https://data.gov.ie/dataset/small-areas-ungeneralised-osi-national-statistical-boundaries-2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A small area has a minimum of 65 and average of 90 [[household]]s.<ref name="datagovie"/> For the 2016 census there were 18,641 small areas.<ref name="areastats">{{cite web |title=Census 2016 Small Area Population Statistics |url=https://www.cso.ie/en/census/census2016reports/census2016smallareapopulationstatistics/ |location=Ireland|publisher=Central Statistics Office |access-date=8 January 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The 2016 census also provides the population of each of 50,117 [[townland]]s, except those with a population of one sex or two people.<ref name="areastats"/>

From 1926 to 2006, the smallest unit of public reporting was the electoral division (till 1996 called "district electoral divisions" in counties or "[[Ward (electoral subdivision)|wards]]" in the cities). There were 3,409 EDs in 2016.<ref name="areastats"/> Until 1911, the smallest reported unit was the townland in rural areas and the ward in urban areas. Subsequently, townland data was available on application to the CSO. All of the aforementioned are legally defined administrative units, although with no local government functions. From 1996 to 2006, "census enumeration areas" were included in data made available on request for areas within the five [[county borough#Republic of Ireland|county borough]]s but not the 29 [[administrative counties]]. A census enumeration area was the area covered by a single enumerator, and had an average of 330 households.<ref>{{cite web |title=2006 Census Enumeration Areas Boundaries |website=Central Statistics Office |location=Ireland |url=http://census.cso.ie/censusasp/saps/boundaries/eas_bound.htm |access-date=8 January 2019 |language=en}}</ref> This data has since been published online.<ref>{{cite web |title=Census Reports 1821-2006 |url=https://www.cso.ie/en/census/censusreports1821-2006/ |website=Central Statistics Office |access-date=8 January 2019 |location=Ireland |language=en}}</ref>

===New Zealand===
{{Main|Mesh blocks}}
In New Zealand census tracts are known as '''meshblocks''', or '''mesh blocks''', and are defined by [[Statistics New Zealand]] as being "the smallest geographic unit for which statistical data is collected and processed by Statistics New Zealand". It is a defined area, varying in size from part of a city block to large areas of rural land. Each of these borders another to form a network covering the whole country including inlets and coasts, and extending out to the 200 mile [[Exclusive economic zone|economic zone]]. Meshblocks are added together to "build up" larger geographic areas such as area units and urban areas. They are also used to draw up and define [[New Zealand electorates]] and [[territorial authorities of New Zealand|local authority boundaries]].<ref name="statsnz"/>

===United Kingdom===
{{See also|ONS coding system}}
British census tracts were first developed in the city of [[Oxford]]. The Inter-University Census Tract Committee was formed in 1955<ref name="Longley">{{cite book|last=Longley|first=Paul|author2=Clarke, Graham|title=GIS for Business and Service Planning|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=New York|year=1996|pages=[https://archive.org/details/gisforbusinessse0000unse/page/80 80–81]|isbn=0-470-23510-1|url=https://archive.org/details/gisforbusinessse0000unse/page/80}}</ref> and Oxford was divided into 48 tracts with an average population of 2,645 each.<ref name="Robson">{{cite book|last=Robson|first=Brian Turnbull|title=Urban Analysis: A Study of City Structure with Special Reference to Sunderland|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|year=1969|pages=[https://archive.org/details/urbananalysisstu0000robs/page/44 44]|isbn=0-521-07272-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/urbananalysisstu0000robs/page/44}}</ref> The [[Registrar General]], however, opted for enumeration districts containing less than 1,000 people on average, rather than adopting census tracts.<ref name="Longley"/> While tracts composed of enumeration districts were later developed, these were not extensively used.<ref name="Exeter">{{cite journal|last=Exeter|first=Daniel J.|author2=Boyle, Paul|author3=Feng, Zhiqiang|author4=Flowerdew, Robin|author5=Schierloh, Nick|year=2005|journal=Population Trends|volume=119|pages=28–36|title=The creation of 'Consistent Areas Through Time' (CATTs) in Scotland, 1981–2001|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/articles/population_trends/PT119TheCreationofConsistent.pdf|access-date=2009-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605092702/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/articles/population_trends/PT119TheCreationofConsistent.pdf|archive-date=2011-06-05|url-status=dead}}</ref> Census tracts have, however, been constructed and used by British demographers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/tracts/|title=Tracts – Information page|publisher=Social and Spatial Inequalities Group, Department of Geography, [[University of Sheffield]]|access-date=2009-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225185636/http://sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/tracts/|archive-date=2009-02-25|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Office for National Statistics]] now uses enumeration districts only for the collection of data, with output areas used as the base unit in census releases.<ref name="ONS">{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/census_geog.asp |title=Beginners' guide to UK geography: Census geography |date=2007-10-30 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=2009-10-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604093106/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/census_geog.asp |archive-date=2011-06-04 }}</ref>

===United States===
The concept of the census tract was first developed in the United States. In 1906, Walter Laidlaw originated the concept of permanent, small geographic areas as a framework for studying change from one decennial [[United States Census]] to another in neighborhoods within [[New York City]].<ref name="Krieger">{{cite journal|last=Krieger|first=Nancy|year=2006|title=A century of census tracts: Health & the body politic (1906–2006)|journal=Journal of Urban Health|volume=83|issue=3|pages=355–361|doi=10.1007/s11524-006-9040-y|pmc=2527201|pmid=16739037}}</ref> For the [[United States Census, 1910|1910 Census]], eight cities—New York, [[Baltimore]], [[Boston]], [[Chicago]], [[Cleveland]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Pittsburgh]], and [[St. Louis]]—delineated census tracts (then termed ‘‘districts’’) for the first time. No additional jurisdictions delineated census tracts until just prior to the [[United States Census, 1930|1930 Census]], when an additional ten cities chose to do so. The increased interest in census tracts for the 1930 Census is attributed to the promotional efforts of Howard Whipple Green, who was a statistician in Cleveland, [[Ohio]], and later the chairman of the American Statistical Association's Committee on Census Enumeration Areas. For more than 25 years, Green strongly encouraged local citizens, via committees, to establish census tracts and other census statistical geographic areas. The committees created by local citizens were known as Census Tract Committees, later called Census Statistical Areas Committees.
 
After 1930, the Census Bureau saw the need to standardize the delineation, review, and updating of census tracts and published the first set of census tract criteria in 1934. The goal of the
criteria has remained unchanged; that is, to assure comparability and data reliability through the standardization of the population thresholds for census tracts, as well as requiring that their
boundaries follow specific types of geographic features that do not change frequently. The Census Bureau began publishing census tract data as part of its standard tabulations beginning with
the [[United States Census, 1940|1940 Census]]. Prior to that time, census tract data were published as special tabulations.

For the 1940 Census, the Census Bureau began publishing census block data for all cities with 50,000 or more people. [[Census block]] numbers were assigned, where possible, by census
tract, but for those cities that had not yet delineated census tracts, ‘‘block areas’’ (called ‘‘block numbering areas’’ [BNAs] in later censuses) were created to assign census block numbers.
Starting with the [[United States Census, 1960|1960 Census]], the [[United States Census Bureau|Census Bureau]] assumed a greater role in promoting and coordinating the delineation, review, and update of census tracts. For the [[United States Census, 1980|1980 Census]], criteria for BNAs were changed to make them more comparable in size and shape to census tracts. For the [[United States Census, 1990|1990 Census]], all counties contained either census tracts or BNAs.

[[United States Census, 2000|Census 2000]] was the first decade in which census tracts were defined in all counties. In addition, the Census Bureau increased the number of geographic areas whose boundaries could be used as census tract boundaries. It also allowed tribal governments of federally recognized [[American Indian tribes]] with a reservation and/or off-reservation trust lands to delineate tracts without regard to State and/or county boundaries, provided the tribe had a 1990 Census population of at least 1,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/psap2010/tract_criteria.pdf |title=Census Tract Program for the 2010 Decennial Census—Final Criteria | work=Federal Register |publisher=U. S. Census Bureau |date=2008-05-14|access-date=2008-10-14}}</ref>

Census tracts are also used by the [[Small Business Administration]] to define boundaries of [[HUBZone]]s.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch10GARM.pdf Chapter 10: Census Tracts and Block Numbering Areas], U.S. Census Bureau, Geographic Areas Reference Manual (PDF)
* Tract lookup tools:
** [http://www.ffiec.gov/census/default.aspx If you know your tract number, look up census info here.]
** If you know only the street address, you can look up [http://www.ffiec.gov/geocode/ tract code number here by street address]
** If you only know the geographic area, you can look up the number based on [https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography.html geography here]

{{USCensus Geography}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Census Tract}}
[[Category:Tracts]]
[[Category:United States Census Bureau geography]]
[[Category:Censuses]]