Coding Geographic Areas Across Census Years:  Creating Consistent       Definitions of Metropolitan Areas

Jaeger, David A.; Turner, Sarah E.; Loeb, Susanna; Bound, John

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Coding Geographic Areas Across Census Years: Creating Consistent Definitions of Metropolitan Areas

NBER Working Paper No. w6772

44 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 1999 Last revised: 2 Jan 2023

See all articles by David A. Jaeger

David A. Jaeger

University of St. Andrews - School of Economics and Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); University College London - CReAM - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration

Sarah E. Turner

University of Virginia; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Susanna Loeb

Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

John Bound

University of Michigan; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: October 1998

Abstract

This paper presents suggested matches for the geographical coding (geocoding) of metropolitan areas in the 1970, 1980, and 1990 Censuses. The Census Bureau used different definitions and taxonomies to describe the geography of metropolitan areas in these three Census years. As a result, the geographical areas referred to by the standard Census Bureau definitions differ among the three Census data sets. The geographic matching scheme explained in this paper attempts to maximize consistency over time for metropolitan areas in the U.S.

Note: This abstract appeared in a previous Labor Markets issue with an incorrect author's name. This is the correct version of the abstract and author information.

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Jaeger, David A. and Turner, Sarah E. and Loeb, Susanna and Bound, John, Coding Geographic Areas Across Census Years: Creating Consistent Definitions of Metropolitan Areas (October 1998). NBER Working Paper No. w6772, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=138576