Education Demographic and
Geographic Estimates

School District Geographic Relationship Files

Most school districts in the U.S. are independent local governments that have authority to determine their geographic boundaries. These boundaries may or may not be consistent with boundaries for other types of legal and statistical areas like counties, Congressional Districts, or Census tracts. As a result, school districts may have multiple spatial associations with other types of geographic areas e.g., a school district boundary may include territory in two different counties, or intersect three different Congressional Districts. The NCES EDGE school and agency location files and the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) provides a limited set of geographic associations based on the location of the district administrative office. This information is useful, but not exhaustive.

The School District Geographic Relationship Files (GRF) were designed to provide a complete set of geographic associations between school districts and other types of geographic areas including counties, Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA), Consolidated Statistical Areas (CSA), New England City and Town Areas (NECTA), Zip Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA), Urban Areas, Congressional Districts (CD), places, Census tracts, and Census block groups. The GRFs are based on the Census Bureau’s TIGER/Line database, and the tables provide a separate record for each part of a district that is uniquely associated with one of the other geographic areas. The files are designed to help answer spatially-oriented questions like: How many Congressional Districts are represented in a school district? How many school districts in the U.S. serve more than one county? Which ZIP codes or Census tracts are included in a school district? And what portion of a school district is contained within a Metropolitan Area?

Geographic Relationship Files Documentation (395 KB)

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Data

Geographic Relationship Files (48.8 MB)

User Notes

Geographic codes come from TIGER 2019.
The school districts in TIGER 2019 represent the 2018-2019 school year.
The congressional districts in TIGER 2019 represent the 116th Congress.
TIGER 2019 uses the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updates to metropolitan and micropolitan delineations as of September 2018.

Data

Geographic Relationship Files (49.6 MB)

User Notes

Geographic codes come from TIGER 2018
The school districts in TIGER 2018 represent the 2017-2018 school year
The congressional districts in TIGER 2018 represent the 116th Congress
TIGER 2018 uses the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updates to metropolitan and micropolitan delineations as of July 15, 2015

Data

Geographic Relationship Files (54.5 MB)

Documentation

School District Geographic Relationship Files Documentation, 2017 (621 KB)

User Notes

Geographic codes come from TIGER 2017
The school districts in TIGER 2017 represent the 2015-2016 school year
The congressional districts in TIGER 2017 represent the 115th Congress
TIGER 2017 uses the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updates to metropolitan and micropolitan delineations as of July 15, 2015

Data

Geographic Relationship Files (54.7 MB)

Documentation

School District Geographic Relationship Files Documentation, 2016 (873 KB)

User Notes

Geographic codes come from TIGER 2016
The school districts in TIGER 2016 represent the 2015-2016 school year
The congressional districts in TIGER 2016 represent the 115th Congress
TIGER 2016 uses the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updates to metropolitan and micropolitan delineations as of February 28, 2013

Data

Geographic Relationship Files (40.9 MB)

Documentation

School District Geographic Relationship Files Documentation, 2015 (456 KB)

User Notes

Geographic codes come from TIGER 2015
The school districts in TIGER 2015 represent the 2013-2014 school year
The congressional districts in TIGER 2015 represent the 114th Congress
TIGER 2015 uses the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updates to metropolitan and micropolitan delineations as of February 28, 2013

Data

Geographic Relationship Files (10 MB)

Documentation

School District Geographic Relationship Files Documentation, 2014 (392 KB)

User Notes

Geographic codes come from TIGER 2014
The school districts in TIGER 2014 represent the 2013-2014 school year
The congressional districts in TIGER 2014 represent the 114th Congress
TIGER 2014 uses the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updates to metropolitan and micropolitan delineations as of February 28, 2013

Data

Geographic Relationship Files (10 MB)

Documentation

School District Geographic Relationship Files Documentation, 2013 (381 KB)

User Notes

Geographic codes come from TIGER 2013
The school districts in TIGER 2013 represent the 2011-2012 school year
The congressional districts in TIGER 2013 represent the 113th Congress
TIGER 2013 uses the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updates to metropolitan and micropolitan delineations as of February 28, 2013