Bay Area 2020 ZCTA Geometries and Correspondences

Bay Area 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) geometries, derived from TIGER/Line Shapefiles and stored as WGS84 latlongs (EPSG:4326); plus columns indicating which jurisdiction and county each ZCTA corresponds to. ZCTAs (pronounced "ZIK-tahs") are spatial analysis areas from the Census Bureau that roughly correspond to ZIP codes. (ZIP codes are an intrinsically non-spatial system designed to streamline USPS mail delivery.) Not all ZIP codes have a corresponding ZCTA, and some large unpopulated land areas are not covered by any ZCTA. ZCTAs are composed of census blocks and do not neatly nest within census tracts, jurisdictions, counties, or even states. ZCTAs are refreshed after each decennial census; this dataset contains 2020-vintage ZCTAs. Bay Area ZCTAs were defined as ZCTAs the majority of whose 2020 block-level population fell within Bay Area counties. These ZCTAs were furthermore associated with Bay Area counties and jurisdictions based on which jurisdiction and county contained the plurality of the Bay Area portion of each ZCTA's block-level population.