Census-designated place
| This article is part of a series on |
| Political divisions of the United States |
|---|
 |
| First level |
|
| Second level |
|
| Third level |
|
| Fourth level |
| Other areas |
|
 United States portal |
A census-designated place (CDP)[1][2][3] is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of
The boundaries of a CDP have no legal status[1] and may not always correspond with the local understanding of the area or community with the same name. However, criteria established for the 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.[5]
The Census Bureau states that census-designated places are not considered incorporated places and that it includes only census-designated places in its city population list for Hawaii because that state has no incorporated cities.[6] In addition, census city lists from 2007 included Arlington County, Virginia's CDP in the list with the incorporated places,[7] but since 2010, only the Urban Honolulu CDP, Hawaii, representing the historic core of Honolulu, Hawaii, is shown in the city and town estimates.
History
The Census Bureau reported data for some unincorporated places as early as the
The
For the
For the
The Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) allows designated participants to review and suggest modifications to the boundaries for CDPs.[8] The PSAP was to be offered to county and municipal planning agencies during 2008.
Effects of designation and examples
The boundaries of such places may be defined in cooperation with local 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.[1][2] 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.
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 divisions (MCDs), which are in a separate category.[2]
The population and
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 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 Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.[2]
- In other cases, the boundary of an incorporated place may bisect a recognized community. An example of this is San Diego Countythat 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 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.[2]
- 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 census.[5]
- 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, 2010.[5]
- In some states, the Census Bureau designates entire minor civil divisions (MCD) with an urban or suburban character as CDPs (for example West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, or Reading, Massachusetts). Such designations are 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.[5]
See also
- Census county division
- Designated place, a counterpart in the Canadian census
- Incorporated place
- Unincorporated area
- Populated place, used by the United States Board on Geographic Names
- ZIP Code Tabulation Area
Notes
- ^ a b c "Geographic Terms and Concepts – Place". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual (GARM), United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016.
- ^ a b U.S. Bureau of the Census, Census Designated Place (CDP) Program for the 2010 Census — Proposed Criteria, 72 Federal Register 17326-17329, April 6, 2007.
- ^ "Glossary". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "Census Designated Place (CDP) Program for the 2010 Census – Final Criteria" (PDF). Federal Register (Volume 73, Number 30). February 13, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- ^ "Cities with 100,000 or More Population in 2000 ranked by Population per Square Mile, 2000 in Alphabetic Order". United States Census Bureau, Population Division. July 10, 2008. Archived from the original on December 26, 2002. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- ^ "Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Virginia". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007. Retrieved September 11, 2008.
- ^ "Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP)". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on September 29, 2006. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
References
- U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, "Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles – Places (Incorporated Places and Census Designated Places)". Cartographic Operations Branch, December 11, 2014.
- U.S. Census Bureau, "Census 2000 Statistical Areas Boundary Criteria". Archived from the original on November 15, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2009., Census Designated Places (CDPs) – Census 2000 Criteria.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Department of Commerce.