2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line® FilesThe TIGER/Line files are extracts of selected geographic and cartographic information from the Census Bureau's TIGER® (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) database.
The 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line files are the last version of the TIGER/Line files the Census Bureau plans to release. With the modernization of the MAF/TIGER systems, the Geography Division will release future TIGER spatial data in shapefile format. We will release more information about our TIGER shapefiles over the next year. Eventually, we will also release TIGER spatial data in GML (TIGER/GML™), and over the web on WebTIGER™ as a Web Feature Server (WFS) and a Web Map Server (WMS).
The 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line files are the second of two versions of the TIGER/Line files that contain 2006 geographic boundaries. The Census Bureau is releasing the 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line files by county or statistically equivalent entity based on the latest available governmental unit boundaries (generally January 1, 2006). The 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line file coverage is as follows: all counties, parishes, boroughs, census areas and equivalent entities for each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas.
The 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line files contain realigned street feature coordinates that have progressed through the MAF/TIGER Accuracy Improvement Project. The Census Bureau is providing two lists of counties with realigned street features, counties with realigned street features in the 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line files and a consolidated list of counties with realigned street features.
The TIGER 1-Cell Source Code (SOURCEID) in Record Type M identifies the source for each line segment and provides the link between the TIGER/Line files and the source and horizontal spatial accuracy information in the county based metadata. Please note that the horizontal spatial accuracy, where reported in the metadata, refers only to the realigned street features identified as matched to the positionally accurate source file with that accuracy. It is not the spatial accuracy of the TIGER/Line file as a whole.
110th Congressional Districts
On Record Type A the Congressional District Code, Current field of the 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line files contains the 110th Congressional Districts. Note: In a few cases the boundaries of the 110th Congressional districts do not follow Census 2000 block boundaries. Where the boundary of a congressional district for the 110th Congress splits a Census 2000 block, the Census Bureau's maps and TIGER/Line files depict the correct location of the boundary. For data tabulation purposes, that census block is allocated in its entirety to the 110th Congressional District specified to the Census Bureau by the state. This list provides all the 110th Congressional Districts that split census blocks and shows the congressional district where the block is allocated for data tabulation.
Changes to the File Structure
The Census Bureau has made some changes to the 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line
file format. We have added some new fields to Record Type A, including the upper
and lower chambers of the current State Legislative Districts (field names
SLDUCU and SLDLCU, respectively). The current Congressional District field
(field name CDCU) now reflects the 110th Congress. In Record Type C, the
Combined Statistical Area/Combined New England City and Town Area Code (field
name CSACNECTA) has been updated, and is now called the Combined Statistical
Area/Combined New England City and Town Area/State Legislative District (Upper
and Lower Chambers) Code (field name CASLD).
There is one TIGER/Line file (in a compressed format) for each county or county equivalent. The file names consist of TGR + the 2-digit state FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) code + the 3-digit county FIPS code (i.e. TGR01031.ZIP for Coffee County, Alabama.) Each state folder contains individual county files as well as a Counts file. The county files are stored in compressed format and are compatible with PK Ware's PK Zip software. The COUNTSnn.TXT files (where "nn" is the state FIPS code) show the counts for the number of records for each record type by county for a state. If the count for a particular record type is 0, then that record type does not exist for that county.
The Census Bureau produces the TIGER/Line files in ASCII text format only; therefore, the data are NOT in the form of map images. To create maps with the TIGER/Line files, one would typically use a Geographic Information System (GIS) package or other mapping software.
Users are responsible for converting or translating the files into a format used by their specific software package. For information on how to use the TIGER/Line data with a specific software package one should contact the company that produced that software. For information on companies that sell products that use TIGER/Line data or that provide TIGER/Line related services, refer to the TIGER Vendor List.
Think we've missed a few counties? The 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line files are based on the latest available boundaries of counties or statistically equivalent entities as reported to the U.S. Census Bureau; generally those reported to be legally in effect on January 1, 2006.
If you have questions about the Census Bureau's TIGER/Line files, please contact the Geography Division at geo.tiger@census.gov .
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