U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Guidelines for Creating and Naming Aggregated County
Areas for Counties Containing fewer than 50,000 Persons for
Residence Datasets for the Census 2000 Special EEO
File
Residence Datasets on the Census 2000 Special EEO File provide
data only for counties of 50,000 or more. Counties of less than
50,000 were merged with other counties. These are the guidelines
used to create and name these county sets.
General Rules for Creating and Naming County Sets
- All counties are accounted for within each state and the
total Census 2000 population count within each state is
correct.
- All counties with population of 50,000 or more stand alone
unless they are aggregated with a county of less than population of
50,000 or with another county if needed to show a Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA).
- Groups of small counties were aggregated to create county
sets of 50,000 or more.
- The counties within each county set are contiguous.
- No county set crosses state lines. All counties within any
county set are within the same state.
- Counties are grouped within MSAs if possible.
- The counties and county sets are listed alphabetically by
county set name.
- The words "County Set" are not included in the county set
name.
- The counties and county sets are numbered consecutively
starting with the state FIPS code followed by "CS" and the
consecutive number of the alphabetized county sets
starting at 001.
- The state name is not included in the area name unless it is
preceded by a directional description; in this case, the name is
abbreviated. For example: "NW KS" (Northwest Kansas).
- If the county set is composed of four or fewer counties, the
county set name is the same as all the counties themselves in
alphabetical order. For example: "Covington+Simpson+Smith."
- For large groupings of small counties, the county set may be
named using a general description that fits the part of the state
in which it is found. For example, "NW Panhandle" (of Texas).
- If a general geographic definition cannot be used, the most
centrally located county is picked and "and surrounding cos." is
added. If more than one county is centrally located, the county
with the largest Census 2000 Population Count is used. For example:
"Gaines and surrounding cos."
Note: In some instances not all the counties
included in the county set actually surround the named county. Some
of these counties may actually form a "C." Or, some counties that
are next to the named county in the county set name may not be
included in the designated county set. The county named in the
county set name is picked based on the number of counties it is
adjacent to within the county set designated geography. In some
cases, the named county is the smallest, but touches the most other
counties within the group. For example: In Iowa, "Audubon and
surrounding cos." (19CS002) is made up of five counties and Audubon
County is the smallest, but is the most centrally located.
- The Consortium discussed all county sets created by the Federal Agencies that caused adisclosure problem with a MSA/PMSA. The Federal Agencies decided which MSA/PMSA to
keep and which MSA/PMSA to eliminate. Most MSA/PMSAs are shown in the file; however,
there are seven that were eliminated due to disclosure concerns. Less than three changes
were made to each county sets for the particular MSA/PMSA to be shown. (In most cases
only one change was required.)
- Following are the seven MSA/PMSAs that will not show on the EEO File:
Arizona: Flagstaff AZ-UT MSA - MSA FIPS Code #2620
Arkansas: Fort Smith AR-OK MSA - MSA FIPS Code #2720
Maryland: Baltimore MD PMSA - PMSA FIPS Code #0720
New York: Newburgh NY-PA PMSA - PMSA FIPS Code #5660
North Dakota: Grand Forks ND-MN MSA - MSA FIPS Code #2985
Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh PA MSA - MSA FIPS Code #6280
Wisconsin: La Crosse WI-MN MSA - MSA FIPS Code #3870
Syntax and Abbreviations
- Multiple names are separated by pluses in the name. For
example: "Floyd+Hale+Swisher."
- If the county set title requires the state name, it is
abbreviated and in all capitals. For example: "Northern AK"
(Northern Alaska).
- Directional descriptions are abbreviated if they are nouns,
and written out in full if they are adjectives. For example: "SW
GA" (Southwest Georgia) "Southern ID" (Southern Idaho).
- County/counties are abbreviated as "Co/cos." Except is
abbreviated as "exc."
Other Notes
In Alaska: Borough = County
In Louisiana: Parish = County
This page was last modified on July 29, 2003.
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