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Census-designated place
Statistical concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau

A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. Used since 1980 as counterparts to incorporated places like cities and towns, CDPs typically include one named unincorporated community plus surrounding areas, such as edge cities, colonias near the Mexico–United States border, and unincorporated retirement communities. While CDP boundaries have no legal status and may change each census, names must reflect local usage per the 2010 Census. Census-designated places are excluded from incorporation and are particularly notable in Hawaii, which lacks incorporated cities.

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History

The Census Bureau reported data for some unincorporated places as early as the first census in 1790 (for example, Louisville, Kentucky, which was not legally incorporated in Kentucky until 1828), though usage continued to develop through the 1890 census, in which the census mixed unincorporated places with incorporated places in its products with "town" or "village" as its label.10 This made it confusing to determine which of the "towns" were or were not incorporated.11

The 1900 through 1930 censuses did not report data for unincorporated places.12

For the 1940 census, the Census Bureau compiled a separate report of unofficial, unincorporated communities of 500 or more people.13 The Census Bureau officially defined this category as "unincorporated places" in the 1950 census and used that term through the 1970 census.14 For the 1950 census, these types of places were identified only outside "urbanized areas".15 In 1960, the Census Bureau also identified unincorporated places inside urbanized areas (except in New England, whose political geography is based on the New England town, and is distinctly different from other areas of the U.S.), but with a population of at least 10,000.16 For the 1970 census, the population threshold for "unincorporated places" in urbanized areas was reduced to 5,000.17

For the 1980 census, the designation was changed to "census designated places"18 and the designation was made available for places inside urbanized areas in New England.19 For the 1990 census, the population threshold for CDPs in urbanized areas was reduced to 2,500.20 From 1950 through 1990, the Census Bureau specified other population requirements for unincorporated places or CDPs in Alaska, Puerto Rico, island areas, and Native American reservations. Minimum population criteria for CDPs were dropped with the 2000 census.2122

The Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) allows designated participants to review and suggest modifications to the boundaries for CDPs.23 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.2425 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.26

The population and demographics of the CDP are included in the data of county subdivisions containing the CDP. Generally, a CDP shall not be defined within the boundaries of what the Census Bureau regards to be an incorporated city, village or borough.27 However, the Census Bureau considers some towns in New England states, New Jersey and New York as well as townships in some other states as MCDs, even though they are incorporated municipalities in those states. In such states, CDPs may be defined within such towns or spanning the boundaries of multiple towns.28

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 annexed by a neighboring town, but the former town or a part of it may still be reported by the census as a CDP by meeting criteria for a CDP. Examples are the former village of Covedale (village in Ohio), compared with 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 military bases (or parts of a military base) that are not within the limits of any existing community, such as Notre Dame, Indiana; Stanford, California (which houses the Stanford University campus); Fort Campbell North, Kentucky; and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.29
  • In other cases, the boundary of an incorporated place may bisect a recognized community. An example of this is Bostonia, California, which straddles the city limits of El Cajon. The USGS places the nucleus of Bostonia within El Cajon. The Bostonia CDP covers the greater El Cajon area in unincorporated San Diego County that 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.30
  • 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.31
  • 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, Greater Galesburg, Michigan, or Greater Upper Marlboro, Maryland. This practice was discontinued in 2010.32
  • 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.33

See also

  • United States portal
  • Politics portal

Notes

References

  1. "Geographic Terms and Concepts – Place". United States Census Bureau. December 6, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141221174415/https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/gtc/gtc_place.html ↩

  2. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  3. 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. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-6465.pdf ↩

  4. "Glossary". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20150208124000/http://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/index.htm#glossary.htm ↩

  5. "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. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2008-02-13/pdf/E8-2667.pdf ↩

  6. "Geographic Terms and Concepts – Place". United States Census Bureau. December 6, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141221174415/https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/gtc/gtc_place.html ↩

  7. "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. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2008-02-13/pdf/E8-2667.pdf ↩

  8. "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. https://web.archive.org/web/20021226215307/http://www.census.gov/statab/ccdb/cit1040a.txt ↩

  9. "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. https://web.archive.org/web/20071105221856/http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2006-04-51.csv ↩

  10. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  11. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  12. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  13. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  14. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  15. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  16. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  17. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  18. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  19. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  20. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  21. 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. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-6465.pdf ↩

  22. "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. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2008-02-13/pdf/E8-2667.pdf ↩

  23. "Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP)". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on September 29, 2006. Retrieved March 9, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20060929001940/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/psap2010/psap2010_main.html ↩

  24. "Geographic Terms and Concepts – Place". United States Census Bureau. December 6, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141221174415/https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/gtc/gtc_place.html ↩

  25. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  26. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  27. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  28. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  29. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  30. "Chapter 9 – Places" in Geographic Areas Reference Manual, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 19, 2016. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch9GARM.pdf ↩

  31. "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. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2008-02-13/pdf/E8-2667.pdf ↩

  32. "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. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2008-02-13/pdf/E8-2667.pdf ↩

  33. "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. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2008-02-13/pdf/E8-2667.pdf ↩