6/13/2025
Census Boundaries – Update for Connecticut FIPS Codes
In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau began using Connecticut's nine planning regions as county-equivalent geographic units for statistical purposes, replacing the state's eight counties. The changes were implemented internally in 2022, and public data and geospatial products began reflecting the change in late 2022. By 2024, all Census Bureau operations and publications use the new county-equivalent boundaries, names, and codes.
Precisely introduced these changes to the county boundaries in our Census Products as part of previous releases, but did not change the county FIPS that were part of the census codes on the tabulation boundaries – Blocks, Block Groups and Tracts.
We made the decision to change the Block Group and Census Tract codes to align with the new County (equivalent) codes in Connecticut. But we are leaving the Block codes the way they are, with their original 2020 codes. This will mean that the Block codes will not necessarily "nest" with the other layers, but the boundaries would still align. This change will bring the Block Group and Census Tract codes in line with current reality census products and allow our census boundaries to be used with codes containing the updated Connecticut FIPS codes.
Overview of Features and Functionality
The census keys and county names will reflect the new Connecticut Planning Areas and their updated FIPS codes.
The fields include:
BKG_KEY and TRC_KEY fields for Block Groups and Tracts
COUNTYNAME field for each
Availability
These changes will all be incorporated in a special off cycle release this month
Minimum Requirements
None
Contact Information
If you would like technical assistance, please contact the Precisely Global Support team at software.support@precisely.com. Any questions relating to this announcement should be directed to John Tagliaferro, product manager for postcode and administrative boundary products – john.tagliaferro@precisely.com.