Have you ever wondered how many counties, incorporated places, census tracts or census blocks there are in a particular state or in the nation as a whole?  Or, have you wondered how the number of 2010 census tracts compares to the number of 2000 census tracts in each state?  If so, you should check out the Geographic Tallies webpage.  Here you will find counts of 2010 Census geographies and comparisons of 2000 and 2010 counts of areas by state.

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  3,143 – Total number of counties and equivalents in the United States.  Puerto Rico has 78 and the Island Areas (American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands) have 13.

• 32,989 – Number of ZIP code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) in the United States as of the 2010 Census.

• 29,261 – Number of incorporated places and census designated places (unincorporated places) in the United States for the 2010 Census.  There are 19,540 incorporated places and 9,721 census designated places.

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  2,704 – Number of minor civil divisions in Minnesota as of the 2010 Census.  No state has more.

• 74,134 – Number of census tracts in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas for the 2010 Census.

These tallies give you an idea of the vast amount of statistics we provide.  You can obtain information for more than 12 million geographies from the 2010 Census and more than 400,000 geographies from the American Community Survey annually. 

Since communities and their boundaries grow and change, tallies, evaluated over time, provide insight into areas where populations have changed and/or development has occurred.  Counts of geography are also important for public and private organizations in determining regional assignments of resources. 

Study up if you plan to see us at a professional meeting.  We think these tallies make great trivia questions, which we post online and we may quiz you when you stop by our booth. 

There are several ways to view the information from the Geographic Tallies webpage.  You can select a state and click “Go” from the “Tallies of Geographic Entities by State” dropdown menu to see tallies for a state.  Or, to view a comprehensive chart of all state and geographic entity tallies, select “Tallies of Geographic Entities by State and Type.”  Here you can view and compare all geographic entity tallies for which the Census Bureau tabulates data, including American Indian areas, congressional districts, counties, county subdivisions, places, ZIP code tabulation areas and many more. Download the Microsoft Excel version of the chart and customize it to fit your needs.