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The NCES Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program designs and develops information resources to help understand the social and spatial context of education in the United States. It uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to create custom indicators of social, economic, and housing conditions for school-age children and their parents. It also uses spatial data collected by NCES and the Census Bureau to create geographic locale indicators, school point locations, school district boundaries, and other types of data to support spatial analysis.
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School District Boundaries

School districts are geographic entities and single-purpose governmental units that operate schools and provide public educational services at the local level. NCES collaborates with the U.S. Census Bureau to annually update school district boundaries, names, local education agency codes, grade ranges, and school district levels based on information provided by state education officials. NCES publishes these school district boundaries for data users and utilizes them to develop a broad collection of district-level demographic estimates for the ACS-ED data products. School district boundary data are also directly accessible as GIS web services.

School District Documentation (387 KB)

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Data

Single Composite File (200 MB)

Layers by District Type (164 MB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2022-2023 school year and apply to the 2019-2023 ACS Period.
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is found in the TIGER/Line Shapefiles and TIGER/Line Files Technical Documentation (census.gov).
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts.
  4. Vermont reported boundaries for Unified, Elementary, Secondary, and Supervisory districts.

Data

Single Composite File (200 MB)

Layers by District Type (154 MB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2021-2022 school year and apply to the 2018-2022 ACS Period.
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is found in the U.S. Census Bureau’s TIGER Documentation.
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts.
  4. Vermont reported boundaries for Unified, Elementary, Secondary, and Supervisory districts.

Data

Single Composite File (188 MB)

Layers by District Type (152 MB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2020-2021 school year and apply to the 2017-2021 ACS Period.
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is found in the U.S. Census Bureau’s TIGER Documentation.
  3. Vermont reported boundaries for Supervisory Union Districts. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts.

Data

Single Composite File (207 MB)

Layers by District Type (149 MB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2019-2020 school year and apply to the 2016-2020 ACS Period.
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is found in the U.S. Census Bureau’s TIGER documentation.
  3. Vermont reported boundaries for Supervisory Union Districts. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts.

Data

Single Composite File (184 MB)

Layers by District Type (146 MB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2018-2019 school year and apply to the 2015-2019 ACS Period.
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is found in the U.S. Census Bureau’s TIGER documentation.
  3. Vermont reported boundaries for Supervisory Union Districts. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts.

Data

Single Composite File (184 MB)

Layers by District Type (145 MB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2017-2018 school year and apply to the 2014-2018 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is found in the U.S. Census Bureau’s TIGER documentation
  3. Vermont reported boundaries for Supervisory Union Districts. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (196 MB)

Layers by District Type (159 MB)

Documentation

Composite School District Boundaries File Documentation, 2017 (434 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2017 (3.79 MB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2015-2016 school year and apply to the 2013-2017 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the Composite School District Boundaries File Documentation, 2017 (434 KB)
  3. Vermont reported boundaries for Supervisory Union Districts. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (159 MB)

Layers by District Type (161 MB)

Documentation

Composite School District Boundaries File Documentation, 2016 (799 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2016

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2015-2016 school year and apply to the 2012-2016 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the Composite School District Boundaries File Documentation, 2016 (799 KB)
  3. Vermont reported boundaries for Supervisory districts. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (138 MB)

Layers by District Type (140 MB)

Documentation

2015 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (70.2 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2015

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2013-2014 school year and apply to the 2011-2015 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2015 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (70.2 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (143 MB)

Layers by District Type (145 MB)

Documentation

2014 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (227 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2014

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2013-2014 school year and apply to the 2010-2014 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2014 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (227 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (143 MB)

Layers by District Type (145 MB)

Documentation

2013 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (183 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2013

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2011-2012 school year and apply to the 2009-2013 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2013 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (183 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (138 MB)

Layers by District Type (141 MB)

Documentation

2012 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (213 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2012

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2011-2012 school year and apply to the 2008-2012 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2012 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (213 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (137 MB)

Layers by District Type (141 MB)

Documentation

2011 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (181 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2011

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2009-2010 school year and apply to the 2007-2011 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2011 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (181 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (138 MB)

Layers by District Type (142 MB)

Documentation

2010 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (180 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2010

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2009-2010 school year and apply to the 2006-2010 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2010 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (180 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (138 MB)

Layers by District Type (139 MB)

Documentation

2009 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (177 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2009

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2007-2008 school year and apply to the 2005-2009 ACS Period
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2009 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (177 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (139 MB)

Layers by District Type (138 MB)

Documentation

2008 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (175 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2008

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2007-2008 school year
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2008 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (175 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (103 MB)

Layers by District Type (102 MB)

Documentation

2007 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (284 KB)

TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation, 2007

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2005-2006 school year
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2007 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (284 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (81 MB)

Layers by District Type (83 MB)

Documentation

2006 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (208 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2005-2006 school year
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2006 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (208 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (72 MB)

Layers by District Type (72 MB)

Documentation

2005 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (191 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2003-2004 school year
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2005 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (191 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (76 MB)

Layers by District Type (76 MB)

Documentation

2004 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (186 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2003-2004 school year
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2004 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (186 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as single school districts

Data

Single Composite File (58 MB)

Layers by District Type (58 MB)

Documentation

2003 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (202 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2001-2002 school year
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2003 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (202 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as a single school districts for the unified school district layer. New York City Community School Districts and Hawaii Complex areas are available in the elementary school district layer. All entities are available in the composite school district layer

Data

Single Composite File (56 MB)

Layers by District Type (56 MB)

Documentation

2002 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (233 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 2001-2002 school year
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2002 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (233 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as a single school districts for the unified school district layer. New York City Community School Districts and Hawaii Complex areas are available in the elementary school district layer. All entities are available in the composite school district layer

Data

N/A

User Notes

  1. School district boundary updates were not issued in TIGER/Line and were instead included as part of 2000 Census geographic data products released in 2002.

Data

Single Composite File (140 MB)

Layers by District Type (141 MB)

Documentation

2000 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (188 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 1999-2000 school year
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 2000 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (188 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as a single school districts for the unified school district layer. New York City Community School Districts and Hawaii Complex areas are available in the elementary school district layer. All entities are available in the composite school district layer

Data

Single Composite File (54 MB)

Layers by District Type (54 MB)

Documentation

1999 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (216 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 1999-2000 school year
  2. Pseudo-school districts represent service areas that address situations where a school district may have financial responsibility for a different grade span in a different part of the district. A list of pseudo-school districts is in Appendix A of the 1999 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (216 KB)
  3. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as a single school districts for the unified school district layer. New York City Community School Districts and Hawaii Complex areas are available in the elementary school district layer. All entities are available in the composite school district layer

Data

Single Composite File (54 MB)

Layers by District Type (54 MB)

Documentation

1998 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (110 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 1997-1998 school year
  2. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as a single school districts for the unified school district layer. New York City Community School Districts and Hawaii Complex areas are available in the elementary school district layer. All entities are available in the composite school district layer

Data

Single Composite File (55 MB)

Layers by District Type (54 MB)

Documentation

1997 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (150 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 1995-1996 school year
  2. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as a single school districts for the unified school district layer. New York City Community School Districts and Hawaii Complex areas are available in the elementary school district layer. All entities are available in the composite school district layer

Data

N/A

User Notes

  1. School district boundary updates were not issued in TIGER/Line.

Data

Single Composite File (56 MB)

Layers by District Type (56 MB)

Documentation

1995 Composite School Shapefiles: Technical Documentation (184 KB)

User Notes

  1. Files represent the 1989-1990 school year
  2. New York City, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are reported as a single school districts for the unified school district layer. New York City Community School Districts and Hawaii Complex areas are available in the elementary school district layer. All entities are available in the composite school district layer

Coverage

The United States has more than 13,000 geographically defined public school districts. These include districts that are administratively and fiscally independent of any other government, as well as public school systems that lack sufficient autonomy to be counted as separate governments and are classified as a dependent agency of some other government—a county, municipal, township, or state. Most public school systems are Unified districts that operate regular, special, and/or vocational programs for children in Prekindergarten through 12th grade.

The Census Bureau’s school district universe is a subset of the larger NCES CCD Local Education Agency (LEA) universe. The Census collection is limited to regular districts that are geographically defined, and it excludes “non-operating” districts and “educational service agencies” that are part of the CCD LEA universe. These districts primarily exist to collect and transfer tax revenue to other school systems that actually provide the education services, or to provide regional special education services, vocational education programs, or financial services for member districts.

Additional Resources

School District Boundary Change Files

This collection identifies changes in school district boundaries and grade span since 2007-2008 to support comparisons of school district data over time.

School District Boundary Changes Files (298 KB)

School District Governments

The U.S. Census Bureau’s quinquennial Census of Governments provides information about the organization, staffing, and finances of special purpose governments in each state, including local education agencies. State descriptions for LEA are compiled below. Historical change in the number of LEAs by state from 1942-2022 can be visualized with the Census Bureau’s Local Government Count widget by setting Government Type to School Districts.

2012 Census of Governments, State Descriptions: School District Governments and Public School Systems (754 KB)

2017 Census of Governments, State Descriptions: School District Governments and Public School Systems (721 KB)

View school district boundaries with the School and District NavigatorSchool & District Navigator.