2010 Census Tract Relationship File Format

Tract relationship files are state-based tabular files. Areal relationships between tracts can be determined by using commercially available GIS software with the Census Bureau's TIGER/Line shapefiles.

These tract relationship files identify states and counties by FIPS (Federal Information Processing Series) codes. These files do not include the geographic names referenced by the FIPS codes. Tract relationship files are provided in a comma-delimited ASCII text file format. Each type of tract relationship file will have a separate record layout. The record layout for each type of relationship file is listed on the 2010 Census Tract Relationship File Record Layout Page.