A Census Block Group is a geographical unit used by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

which is between the Census Tract and the Census Block. It is the smallest geographical unit for which the bureau publishes sample data, i.e. data which is only collected from a fraction of all households. Typically, Block Groups have a population of 600 to 3,000 people. Every Census Block Group has a unique 12-digit

FIPS code The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military United State ...

. The Block Group's unique identifier is the 12th digit of the FIPS Code. This number determines the first digit of all the census blocks contained within a block group. For instance, census Block Group 2 includes any block numbered 2000 to 2999. For the 2000 US Census, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

including

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

had 211,267 block groups, each containing an average of 39 blocks. For the 2010 US Census, the

(not including

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

, etc.) had 217,740 block groups, each containing an average of 51 blocks.Census Demographics
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References

*Definition is from the United States Census Bureau Glossary. "Block Group (BG)" definition on th

*Statistics from the Census Bureau'

of the Landview 6 software.

External links

{{USCensus Geography United States Census Bureau geography