Datasets > Polygon data > United States > 2020-2024

NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2023}

EDGE Geodata · 2023 Full Details

Full Details

Title
NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2023}
Description
Historical dataset archived from the original source., This data layer produced by the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program provides a geographic locale framework that classifies all U. S. territory into twelve categories ranging from Large Cities to Remote Rural areas. NCES uses this framework to describe the type of geographic area where schools and school districts are located. The criteria for these classifications are defined by NCES, and rely on standard geographic areas developed and maintained by the U. S. Census Bureau. The NCES Locale boundaries are based on geographic areas represented in Census TIGER/Line. For more information about the NCES locale framework, and to download the data, see:https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/Geographic/LocaleBoundaries. The classifications include:City - Large (11): Territory inside an urban area with population of 50,000 or more and inside a principal city with population of 250,000 or more. City - Midsize (12): Territory inside an urban area with population of 50,000 or more and inside a principal city with population less than 250,000 and greater than or equal to 100,000. City - Small (13): Territory inside an urban area with population of 50,000 or more and inside a principal city with population less than 100,000. Suburban - Large (21): Territory outside a principal city and inside an urban area with population of 250,000 or more. Suburban - Midsize (22): Territory outside a principal city and inside an urban area with population less than 250,000 and greater than or equal to 100,000. Suburban - Small (23): Territory outside a principal city and inside an urban area with population less than 100,000 and greater than or equal to 50,000. Town - Fringe (31): Territory inside an urban area with population less than 50,000 that is less than or equal to 10 miles from an urban area with population of 50,000 or more. Town - Distant (32): Territory inside an urban area with population less than 50,000 that is more than 10 miles and less than or equal to 35 miles from an urban area with population of 50,000 or more. Town - Remote (33): Territory inside an urban area with population less than 50,000 that is more than 35 miles from an urban area with population of 50,000 or more. Rural - Fringe (41): Territory outside an urban area that is less than or equal to 5 miles from an urban area with population of 50,000 or more, as well as territory outside an urban area that is less than or equal to 2. 5 miles from an urban area with population less than 50,000. Rural - Distant (42): Territory outside an urban area that is more than 5 miles but less than or equal to 25 miles from an urban area with population of 50,000 or more, as well as territory outside an urban area that is more than 2. 5 miles but less than or equal to 10 miles from an urban area with population less than 50,000. Rural - Remote (43): Territory outside an urban area that is more than 25 miles from an urban area with population of 50,000 or more and is also more than 10 miles from an urban area with population less than 50,000. All information contained in this file is in the public domain. Data users are advised to review NCES program documentation and feature class metadata to understand the limitations and appropriate use of these data.
Creator
National Center for Education Statistics
Publisher
EDGE Geodata
Subject
Educational statistics
Temporal Coverage
2023
Date Issued
2025-01-08
Rights
https://resources.data.gov/open-licenses/
Access Rights
Public
Format
GeoPackage
Language
English
Date Added
April 03, 2026
Conforms To
https://epsg.io/4269
Provenance Statement
2025-03-06 / Downloaded shapefile from https://data-nces.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/nces::locales-2023/about , 2026-04-03 ~ Created GeoPackage derivative

Resource Class

Resource Type

Theme

Place

Provider

Location

Download

Links

Cite and Reference

  • Citation
    National Center for Education Statistics (2025). NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2023}. EDGE Geodata. (dataset)
  • BTAA Geoportal Link

View more items like this one...

NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2024}

2024

NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2021}

2021

NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2015}

2015

NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2014}

2014

NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2017}

2017

NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2016}

2016

NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2018}

2018

NCES Geographic Locale Boundaries [United States] {2019}

2019

Iowa County Boundaries (Census) [Iowa]

2025

Census-Designated Urban and Rural Areas (2010) [Ohio--Stark County]

2010