FIPS 55-3 Class Code Definitions

Class C: Incorporated Places

Names appearing in this class are those recognized by the U.S. Bureau of the Census based on information provided by State, county, and local governments. Alternate authoritative common names recognized by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names are recorded in subclass C4.

C1: Identifies an active incorporated place that is not also recognized as an Alaska Native Village statistical area, and does not also serve as a primary county division; that is, it is included in and is part of a primary county division. For example, the city of Hammond, Indiana is within and part of North township; the city of Austin, Texas is within and part of several census county divisions in several counties; Hammond and Austin are coded C1.

C2: Identifies an incorporated place that also serves as a primary county division because, although the place is coextensive with a minor civil division (MCD), the Census Bureau, in agreement with State officials, does not recognize the MCD for presenting census data because the MCD is a nonfunctioning entity; applies to Iowa and Ohio only. For example, the city of Dubuque, Iowa is coextensive with Julien township, which does not function as a governmental unit and may not be well-known even to local residents; the city is assigned code C2, and the township, Z8. This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3. Also see subclass C5.

C3: Identifies a consolidated city; that is, an incorporated place that has consolidated its governmental functions with a county or MCD, but continues to include other incorporated places that are legally part of the consolidated government. For example, the city of Columbus, Georgia is consolidated with Muscogee County, which continues to exist as a nonfunctioning legal entity in the State; however, the town of Bibb City continues to exist as a separate active incorporated place within the consolidated government and, therefore, Columbus is treated as a consolidated city. At the time of publication, there are seven consolidated cities in the United States: Athens-Clarke County, Georgia; Butte-Silver Bow, Montana; Columbus, Georgia; Indianapolis, Indiana; Jacksonville, Florida; Milford, Connecticut; and Nashville-Davidson, Tennessee. The subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

C4: Identifies an alternate authoritative common name of any member of the other subclasses of Class C. The entity code of the legal name is referenced in the “Other Name Code” of the record, and in the entry for the legal name, the Other Name Code references the alternate. For example, the entity in California whose legal name is San Buenaventura (subclass C1) is commonly known as Ventura, which is coded C4.

C5: Identifies an incorporated place that also serves as a primary county division; that is, it is not included in any adjacent primary county division of class T or Z. For example, Boston, MA, is legally a primary division of the county and recognized as an incorporated place and, therefore, is coded C5. Also see subclass C2.

C6: Identifies an incorporated place that is coincident with or approximates an Alaska Native Village statistical area. The Other Name Code references the Alaska Native Village statistical area; see subclass E6.

C7: Identifies an independent city. At the time of publication, independent cities exist in only four States: Maryland (Baltimore City), Nevada (Carson City), Missouri (St Louis City), and Virginia (41 cities). These cities also serve as county equivalents, and all but Carson City also serve as primary county divisions.

C8: Identifies the portion of a consolidated city that is not within another incorporated place; see subclass C3. The Census Bureau identifies these nonfunctioning entities by taking the name of the consolidated city and appending in parentheses the word remainder. For example, Columbus (remainder) identifies the portion of the Columbus, Georgia consolidated city that is not also in Bibb City. This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

C9: Identifies an inactive or nonfunctioning incorporated place.

Class U: Populated (Community) Places (Except Those Associated with Facilities)

U1: Identifies a census designated place (CDP) with a name identical to the authoritative common name that describes essentially the same population. Also see subclass M2.

U2: Identifies a CDP with a name not identical to an authoritative common name of essentially the same area. If there is an alternate authoritative common name, it is referenced in the Other Name Code field. For example, Suitland-Silver Hill, Maryland is the name of a locally delineated CDP recognized by the Census Bureau which is a combination of two communities (Suitland and Silver Hill) and, therefore, because it is not the authoritative name of the area, is coded U2; Sierra Vista Southeast, Arizona is a CDP that includes the built-up area adjoining the city of Sierra Vista on the southeast, but is not an authoritative name for that area and, therefore, is coded U2. Also see subclass M2.

U3: Identifies (a) an alternate, authoritative common name of a population essentially described by a specific CDP with a different name (the Other Name Code references the CDP), or (b) a community wholly or substantially within the boundaries of a CDP with a different name (the Part of Code references the CDP). For example, Silver Hill and Suitland are coded U3 and cross-referenced to the CDP of Suitland-Silver Hill (see subclass U2).

U4: Identifies a populated place wholly or substantially within the boundaries of an incorporated place with a different name; the Part of Code identifies the incorporated place. For example, Harlem and Greenwich Village, which are part of New York city, and Hollywood, which is part of Los Angeles, California, are coded U4.

U5: Dropped. Only one place (the CDP of Arlington) Virginia was in this subclass in FIPS PUB 95-2; it has been recoded as U1 as a place and as Z3 as a subclass in FIPS 55-3 as a county subdivision.

U6: Identifies a populated place located wholly or substantially outside the boundaries of any incorporated place or CDP with an authoritative common name recognized by the U.S. Geological Survey.

U8: Identifies a populated place located wholly or substantially outside the boundaries of an incorporated place or CDP but whose name has not been verified as authoritative by the U.S. Geological Survey.

U9: Identifies a CDP that is coincident with or approximates the area of an Alaska Native Village statistical area. The Other Name Code references the Alaska Native Village statistical area; see subclass E2. This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

Class D: American Indian Areas

D1: Identifies a federally recognized American Indian reservation and its associated trust land that does not also serve as a primary county division.

D2: Identifies a federally recognized American Indian reservation that exists in a single county and also serves as a primary county division (applies only in Maine and New York). This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

D3: Identifies a federally recognized American Indian tribal government that holds off-reservation property in trust land for a tribe or individual member(s) of a tribe, and the trust land is not associated with a specific American Indian reservation. This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

D4: Identifies a State-recognized American Indian reservation that does not also serve as a primary county division.

D5: Identifies a State-recognized American Indian reservation that exists in a single county and also serves as a primary county division (applies only to New York).

D6: Identifies a statistical entity delineated for the Census Bureau to delimit an area containing the American Indian population over which a federally or State-recognized American Indian tribe not having a recognized reservation has jurisdiction (tribal jurisdiction statistical area-TJSA-in Oklahoma) and/or provides benefits and services to its members (tribal designated statistical area-TDSA-in other States). This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

D7: Identifies an administrative division of an American Indian tribal government. For example, the chapters of the Navajo Nation. This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

D8: Identifies an alternate authoritative common name of any member of the other subclasses of Class D. The place code of the legal name is referenced in the “Other Name Code” of the record, and in the entry for the legal name, the “Other Name Code” references the alternate. This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

D9: Identifies a State Designated American Indian Statistical Area (SDAISA).

Class E: Alaska Native Areas

Alaska Native Villages (ANVs) are legal entities that may not have legally established boundaries. The Census Bureau, in cooperation with Alaska Native officials, has delineated boundaries that identify the settled portion of most Alaska Native Village tribal communities from the legal entities they represent, these statistical entities are referred to as Alaska Native Village statistical areas (ANVSAs). The FIPS entity code scheme assigns a single code to represent both the legal ANV and ANVSA which designations appear in parentheses after the legal entity name. Alaska Native Regional Corporations (ANRCs) are legal entities with boundaries determined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to conduct the business and nonprofit affairs of Alaska Natives and their communities.

E1: Identifies an ANV/ANVSA where the ANVSA boundaries do not coincide with or approximate an incorporated place or a CDP.

E2: Identifies an ANV/ANVSA where the ANVSA boundaries coincide with or approximate a CDP. The Other Name Code identifies the CDP; see subclass U9.

E6: Identifies an ANV/ANVSA where the ANVSA boundaries coincide with or approximate an incorporated place. The Other Name Code identifies the incorporated place; see subclass C6.

E7: Identifies an ANRC, an area established by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act; twelve ANRCs cover all of the State of Alaska except the Annette Islands Reserve, an American Indian reservation-a thirteenth ANRC is for Alaska Natives residing outside of Alaska and this ANRC is not included in FIPS 55. This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

Class F: Hawaiian Areas

F1: Identifies a Hawaiian Homeland.

Group 2:Counties, and County Equivalents Primary County Divisions, American Indian Areas, and Alaska Native Areas

Class H: Counties and County Equivalents

Class H includes all the primary divisions of a state or state equivalent usually called counties, but also includes borough and census areas in Alaska, parishes in Louisiana, municipios in Puerto Rico, and districts, islands, and municipalities in the Outlying Areas. The class does not include independent cities which are classified as class C7.

H1: Identifies an active county or county equivalent that does not qualify under subclass C7 or H6.

H4: Identifies an inactive or nonfunctioning county or county equivalent that does not qualify under subclass H6.

H5: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3 . The 17 entities recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2, which identified inactive or nonfunctioning counties or county equivalents coextensive with a single primary county division, have been reassigned to code subclass H4 or H6, as appropriate.

H6: Identifies a county or county equivalent that is areally coextensive or governmentally consolidated with an incorporated place, part of an incorporated place (applies only to New York City), or a consolidated city (see subclass C3). The Other Name Code of the record references the name of the incorporated place or consolidated city. (The incorporated place serves as the active governmental unit.)

Class T: Active Minor Civil Divisions

T1: Identifies an active minor civil division (MCD) that is not coextensive with an incorporated place.

T2: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The entities in this subclass in FIPS 55-2, which identified active MCDs coextensive with a census designated place (CDP), have been assigned to subclass T1.

T3: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The entities in this subclass in FIPS 55-2, which identified active MCDs not coextensive with a CDP or incorporated place but including a populated place of the same name, have been assigned to subclass T1.

T5: Identifies an active MCD that is coextensive with an incorporated place. (The incorporated place usually has the same name as the MCD, and usually the officials of the incorporated place administer the governmental functions of the MCD.)

Class Z: Inactive or Nonfunctioning Primary County Divisions

Z1: Identifies an inactive or nonfunctioning minor civil division (MCD) recognized as a primary county division by the Census Bureau, such as the townships in Arkansas and North Carolina and the magisterial districts in Virginia and West Virginia.

Z2: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The 27 entities recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2, which identified unorganized territories (unorgs) that were coextensive with a single disorganized MCD or member of subclass Z4, have been assigned to subclass Z3.

Z3: Identifies a unorg. established as an MCD equivalent by the Census Bureau. Some unorgs. may be coextensive with one or more disorganized MCDs and/or members of subclass Z4, or may include (but not be coextensive with) one or more such members. Subclass Z3 also identifies a primary county division that duplicates the county entry (applies only to Arlington County, Virginia).

Z4: Identifies a nonfunctioning or disorganized township or similar entity not recognized as an MCD by the Census Bureau; must be either coextensive with or included in an unorg., such as the survey townships in Maine (numbered in the 90000 series). If coextensive, the Other Name Code identifies a member of subclass Z3; if included, the Part of Code identifies a member of subclass Z3.

Z5: Identifies a census county division (in 21 States), census subarea (Alaska), or census subdistrict (Virgin Islands of the United States).

Z6: Identifies a sub-MCD in Puerto Rico (subbarrio) and the Federated States of Micronesia (a municipal district). This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

Z7: Identifies an independent incorporated place that serves as a primary county division in Iowa, North Carolina, and in counties containing only nonfunctioning MCDs in Nebraska. These entities are coded as places, but also as nonfunctioning primary county divisions numbered in the 90000 series in order to maintain their alphabetic sequence within the nonfunctioning MCD's in these States. This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3. Also see subclass C5.

Z8: Identifies a legally existing MCD that is coextensive with an incorporated place but not recognized by the Census Bureau (applies only in Iowa and Ohio); see subclass C2. This subclass is new for FIPS 55-3.

Group 3: Facilities, Except Communications and Transportation

Class G: Nongovernment Facilities

This class-comprising subclasses G1 (shopping center or amusement part), G3 (health care or geriatric care facility), G4 (an area of natural preservation or significant cultural and historic significance), G5 (a stockyard, storage facility, or industrial manufacturing or continuous-processing facility other than a utility), G6 (a religious or educational facility, research laboratory, or testing facility), G7 (an energy generation facility or other utility), G8 (an executive or administrative facility), and G9 (any other type of nongovernment facility, not elsewhere classified)-has been dropped from FIPS 55-3 and the records deleted because no source was available to make the information complete or keep it current.

Class M: Federal Facilities

M1: Identifies an installation of the U.S. Department of Defense or of any branch thereof, or of the U.S. Coast Guard, regardless of purpose of function of the installation; does not identify an installation or part thereof that qualifies under subclass M2 or A1.

M2: Identifies an installation (or part of an installation) that qualifies under subclass M1 and has been reported by the Census Bureau as a CDP.

M3: Identifies an installation of the U.S. Veterans Administration or other non-Defense Department health care, hospital, rehabilitation, or geriatric care facility.

M4: Identifies a unit of the national park system (including areas known by other designations such as National Monuments, National Historic Sites, and so forth) managed by the National Park Service.

M5: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The three Federal correctional facilities recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been assigned to subclass M9.

M6: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The 13 non-Defense Department, non-Coast Guard educational and training facilities, research laboratories, or testing stations, or launch, monitoring, or control installations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration recorded in FIPS 55-2 in this subclass have been assigned to subclass M9.

M7: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The one energy generation or fuel production facility recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 has been deleted because the information is neither complete nor current.

M8: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The two executive, legislative, judicial, or administrative offices recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been deleted because the information is neither complete nor current.

M9: Identifies a Federal facility not elsewhere classified.

Class N: State, Local, and International Government Facilities

N1: Identifies a National Guard or other public safety facility not qualifying under subclass A1.

N3: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The 23 health care, geriatric care, or veterans facilities recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been deleted because the information is neither complete nor current.

N4: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The 10 State parks and significant cultural or historic sites recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been deleted because the information is neither complete nor current.

N5: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The 48 State and local correctional facilities recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been assigned to code N9.

N6: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The 42 educational facilities, research laboratories, and testing stations recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been deleted because the information is neither complete nor current.

N7: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The eight energy generation facilities and other utilities recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been deleted because the information is neither complete nor current.

N8: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The four executive, legislative, judicial, and administrative facilities recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been deleted because the information is neither complete nor current.

N9: Identifies any other State, local, or international government installation not elsewhere classified.

Group 4: Communications and Transportation Facilities

Class A: Airports

A1: Identifies an airport that receives regularly scheduled commercial flights and also serves as a military or Coast Guard installation.

A2: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. This subclass (an airport that receives regularly scheduled commercial flights, serves as a military or U.S. Coast Guard installation, and is a CDP) category is obsolete, and the three airports recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2, have been assigned to subclass A1 or M2, as appropriate.

A3: Identifies an airport that receives regularly scheduled commercial flights and does not serve as a military or Coast Guard installation.

A4: Identifies an airport that does not receive regularly scheduled commercial flights and does not serve as a military or Coast Guard installation.

A5: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. This subclass (an airport not meeting Federal Aviation Administration safety regulation FAR 139 and not serving as a U.S. military or Coast Guard installation) is obsolete, and the 15 airports recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been assigned to subclass A3 or A4, as appropriate.

Class B: Post Offices Not Corresponding to Other Locational Entities

Post office names identified in this class are only those that do not identify entities included in another class; for example, Franklin D. Roosevelt is a postal station in New York city. The entity may be cross-referenced to the place in which it is located in the Part of Code field. There are no subclasses.

Class S: Surface Transportation Facilities

This class (comprising facilities such as stations, depots, docks, loading and unloading points, switching points, spurs, sidings, junctions, and yards) has been dropped as a class in FIPS 55-3 because the information is neither complete nor current. The two entities recorded in the class in FIPS 55-2 have been deleted. There were no subclasses.

Group 5: Obsolete or Incorrect Names

Class X: Obsolete or Incorrect Names or Entities

The code of a correct replacement, if any, is given in the Other Name Code and Part of Code fields; the incorrect or obsolete name may be referenced in same cases from the Other Name Code of the replacement.

X: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The entities recorded in FIPS 55-2 as X with no subclass-no information available-have been assigned to a redefined subclass X3.

X1: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. There were no entities in this subclass identifying entities abolished and not absorbed by another entity recorded in FIPS 55-2.

X2: Identifies entities whose names have been changed and are not appropriate in any other subclass; the new name is referenced by the Other Name Code.

X3: Identifies entities whose names are incorrect or less preferred, and are not appropriate in any other (sub)class, or entities for which more specific information that would permit assignment to an appropriate (sub)class is not available; the correct or preferred name, where known, is referenced by the Other Name Code.

X4: Identifies entities absorbed by one or more surviving entities; if one surviving entity, it is referenced by the Other Name Code; if two surviving entities, they are referenced by the Part of Code and the Other Name Code, if more than two surviving entities the Part of Code and Other Name Code reference the surviving entities with the two largest proportions of the original entity.

X5: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. The four entities recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2, which identified entities absorbed by more than one surviving entity, have been assigned to a redefined subclass X4.

X6: Dropped as a subclass in FIPS 55-3. This subclass, identifying entities that may continue to exist but dropped as not pertinent, is not appropriate; the entities recorded in this subclass in FIPS 55-2 have been assigned to subclass X3.