U.S. Census Grids

Follow Us:    |   Share:

Introduction

The U.S. Census Grids provide raster data sets that include not only population and housing counts, but a wide variety of socioeconomic characteristics. These gridded data sets transform irregularly shaped census block and block group boundaries into a regular surface – a raster grid – for faster and easier analysis. Data sets are available for 1990, 2000 and 2010.

Type of Data Available

  • Individuals - age distribution, race, ethnicity, income, poverty, educational level, and immigrant status
  • Households - household size, one-person households, female-headed households with children under 18, and linguistically isolated households.
  • Housing units - occupancy, seasonal usage, occupied housing units without a vehicle, and year of construction.

Spatial Resolution

  • Data sets for the United States (1990 only) are available at a resolution of 30 arc-seconds or approximately 1 kilometer.
  • Data sets for the United States and Puerto Rico (2000 and 2010 only) are available at a resolution of 30 arc-seconds or approximately 1 kilometer.
  • Data sets for 39 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States with a population of one million or more are available at a resolution of 7.5 arc-seconds or approximately 250 meters (1990 only).
  • Data sets for 50 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States with a population of one million or more are available at a resolution of 7.5 arc-seconds or approximately 250 meters (2000 only).

Map Collection

  • View and download maps showing the spatial distribution of different socioeconomic characteristics for regions and cities within the United States and Puerto Rico