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TIGER Products

TIGER = Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing

The Census Bureau offers several file types and an application for mapping census geographic data based on data found in our MAF/TIGER database. Our products are:

• TIGER/Line Shapefiles - New 113th Congressional District Shapefiles
• TIGER/Line Shapefiles & Geodatabases pre-joined with Demographic Data
• Cartographic Boundary Files
• KML Prototype Files
• TIGERweb

Which product should I use?

Product	Best For...	File Format	Type of Data	Level of Detail	Descriptive Attributes	Vintages Available
TIGER/Line Shapefiles	Most mapping projects--this is our most comprehensive dataset. Designed for use with GIS (geographic information systems).	Shapefiles (.shp) and database files (.dbf)	Boundaries, roads, address information, water features, and more	Full detail (not generalized)	Extensive	2006 - 2012, CD 113
TIGER/Line Shapefiles & Geodatabases with Demographic Data	Demographic analysis from selected attributes from the 2010 Census, 2006-2010 ACS 5- year estimates, and 2007-2011 ACS 5-year estimates for selected geographies. Designed for use with GIS.	Shapefiles (.shp) and Geodatabases	Boundaries, Population Counts, Housing Unit Counts, 2010 Census Demographic Profile 1 attributes, 2006-2010 ACS 5-year estimates data profiles, 2007-2011 ACS 5-year estimates data profiles.	Full detail (not generalized)	Limited	2010, 2006-2010 ACS, 2007-2011 ACS
Cartographic Boundary Files	Small scale (limited detail) mapping projects clipped to shoreline. Designed for thematic mapping using GIS.	Shapefiles (.shp)	Selected boundaries	Less detail (generalized)	Limited	2010, 2000, 1990
KML Prototype Files	Viewing data or creating maps using Google Earth, Google Maps, or other platforms that use KML.	KML (.kml)	Selected boundaries	Less detail (generalized)	Limited	2010
TIGERweb	Viewing spatial data online or streaming to your mapping application.	Interactive viewer, HTML data files, plus REST and WMS map services	Boundaries, roads, address information, water features, and more	Detailed	Extensive	2012, 2010, 2012 ACS and 2011 ACS