2020 Census Geographies

Every ten years, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts a count and collects information on the U.S. population. As part of this process, the Census Bureau creates a series of nested geographies for proper sampling and counting. As of the 2020 census, the City of Boston, MA contains 5,975 census blocks (defined as any piece of land bounded by streets or water on all sides, and not divided by any streets or water). These census blocks are nested within 581 census block groups, which are themselves nested within 207 census tracts. These geographies are permanent for one decade and are meant to remain semi-permanent from census to census. BARI often uses census geographies as units of analyses in our research since they act as approximations of neighborhoods. Information pertaining to these files can be found in the most recent documentation for the "Geographical Infrastructure for the City of Boston." Note: Census geographies are updated every 10 years, so these geographies will be the most current ones until 2030.