Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Technical Documentation

This page describes the file naming convention and record layout for the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Address Count Listing Files.

2026

File Naming Convention for LUCA Address Count Listing Files

The Address Count Listing Files use the following naming convention: Census_Address_Block_Counts_<govid>.txt, where:

<govid> = All federally recognized States, Alaska Native Regional Corporations (ANRC), American Indian areas (AIA), counties (and equivalent areas), incorporated places, consolidated cities, and minor civil divisions (MCDs) are assigned and identified by unique GOVID codes.

An example file name is:

Census_Address_Block_Counts_72600000000.txt

Record Layout for LUCA Address Count Listing Files

Field Name	Field Description
STATE	Two-digit FIPS state code. This represents the current state. It may differ from the first two digits of the BLOCK_GEOID.
COUNTY	Three-digit FIPS county code. This represents the current county. It may differ from digits 3-5 of the BLOCK_GEOID.
TRACT	Current census tract number. Consists of six digits with the first four digits being the basic census tract number and the fifth and sixth digits after the decimal being the tract suffix. If the census tract is not suffixed the fifth and sixth digits are filled with zeroes. It may differ from digits 6-11 of the BLOCK_GEOID.
BLOCK	Four-digit census block number and one-character alpha suffix (where applicable). Census blocks are numbered uniquely from 0000 to 9999 within census tract, which nest within state and county. The first digit of the census block number identifies the block group. Concatenate block suffixes to the block.
BLOCK_GEOID	Concatenation of the 2020 Census state, county, and tract, and the current census block. The BLOCK_GEOID consists of up to 16 characters (when including block suffix) and is used in joining the block level feedback data to the blocks in the partnership shapefiles.
TOTAL_HOUSING_UNITS	Total number of addresses in the entity count list identified as housing units or transitory units by data in the Master Address File (MAF).
TOTAL_GROUP_QUARTERS	Total number of addresses in the entity count list identified as group quarters by data in the MAF.
TOTAL_TRANSITORY_LOCATION	Total number of addresses in the entity count list identified as transitory location by data in the MAF.
TOTAL_UNITS	Total number of addresses in the entity count list.