Census and Demographic Data

How can I contact the FFIEC census and geocoding/mapping system team?

• Please email [email protected] for assistance.

What census and geocoding products does the FFIEC provide?

• The FFIEC releasees six products annually: the Census flat file, the Online Census Data System, the Geocoding and Mapping System, the Median Family Income Report, the CRA Distressed and Underserved List, and the MSA/MD-state-county-tract crosswalk.
• The Census flat file is a large CSV file containing approximately 1200 different demographic fields for every tract in the U.S. and its territories. All other FFIEC data is derived from this file.
• The Online Census Data System is a web utility that allows users to view a select subset of demographic data for a specific geography without needing to download any files. For example, users can view data for all tracts within a given county or MSA.
• The Geocoding and Mapping System (or simply Geocoder) is a mapping utility that allows users to enter an address and see a select subset of the demographic data for the tract in which the address lies. Users can also manually select a tract. All data displayed here is the same as that displayed in the Online Census Data System.
• The Median Family Income Report is a list of the MFIs for all MSAs and non-MSA areas in the U.S. These MFIs are adjusted for inflation using HUD’s methodology, but unlike HUD’s numbers, these MFIs also account for the latest OMB boundary updates. See above for more information.
• The CRA Distressed and Underserved List is a list of all tracts in the U.S. marked as either distressed or underserved. For more information, please see the Census information sheets.
• The Census Tract List is a list of all tracts in the U.S. and the county, MSA/MD (or non-MSA), and state in which they lie. It also lists the tract income level for each tract. It is broken out by year so that users can see how each geography has changed over time.

When are each of the census and geocoding products updated?

• The Census flat file is updated every summer, typically in July or August.
• The Online Census Data System is updated a few weeks after the release of the Census flat file. The Geocoding and Mapping System receives boundary updates in January, but the demographic data is updated after the release of the Census flat file.
• The Median Family Income Report is updated twice. In January, the MSA/MD MFI is updated to account for the new OMB boundaries. The FFIEC Estimated MFI is updated after HUD releases its MFI estimates, typically a few weeks before the Census flat file is released.
• The CRA Distressed and Underserved List is updated in May or June depending on when all of its dependencies are released.
• The MSA/MD-state-county-tract crosswalk is updated every January or February.

Does the FFIEC Geocoding and Mapping System have a way to geocode addresses in bulk?

• There is no batch geocoding functionality available at this time; however, the FFIEC is investigating the feasibility of offering this feature in the future.

Why is the FFIEC Estimated Median Family Income different from the MSA/MD Median Family Income?

• The MSA/MD Median Family Income is taken directly from the 5-year ACS and is only updated once every 5 years (except when there is an OMB boundary change). The FFIEC Estimated Median Family Income is updated annually based on HUD methodology. For more information, please see the Overview page.

A tract shows an income level of “unknown,” when will this be updated?

• “Unknown” is the correct income level for the tract. Note that it does not mean that the percentage has not been calculated, but rather that the tract MFI is either 0 or not available from Census. Such values are most common during decennial refreshes as all tract boundaries are updated, but they may also occur during the intermediate 5-year refresh. Because the tract MFI stays fixed for 5-year periods (see the income data dictionary), the tract income level indicator stays fixed for five years unless there is an OMB boundary change. In the event of an OMB boundary change, this change will only affect the MSA-level MFI data. Therefore, only income levels that are not “Unknown” can change based on these boundary changes.

When I search for an address, it says, “Address type does not meet match criteria.” What does this mean?

• When attempting to place an address on the map, the FFIEC Geocoder attempts to find the address in the Esri address database. If an address with at least a 95% match score is found, those coordinates will be used to place the address on the map. If no such match can be found, then the error message will be displayed. For more information on match criteria, please see the Geocoder technical information section of the overview. The most common reason a matching address cannot be found is because it is new construction that has not yet been added to Esri’s address database. The database is updated quarterly, so the address should be available later in the year. In the meantime, the “User select tract” option allows users to manually select the tract in which the address lies to view the demographic data for that tract.