tigris

tigris is an R package that allows users to directly download and use TIGER/Line shapefiles (https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/tiger-line-file.html) from the US Census Bureau.

To install the package from CRAN, issue the following command in R:

install.packages('tigris')

Or, get the development version from GitHub:

devtools::install_github('walkerke/tigris')

tigris functions return simple features objects with a default year of 2021. To get started, choose a function from the table below and use it with a state and/or county if required. You'll get back an sf object for use in your mapping and spatial analysis projects:

library(tigris)
library(ggplot2)

manhattan_roads <- roads("NY", "New York")

ggplot(manhattan_roads) + 
  geom_sf() + 
  theme_void()

tigris only returns feature geometries for US Census data which default to the coordinate reference system NAD 1983 (EPSG: 4269). For US Census demographic data (optionally pre-joined to tigris geometries), try the tidycensus package. For help deciding on an appropriate coordinate reference system for your project, take a look at the crsuggest package.

To learn more about how to use tigris, read Chapter 5 of the book Analyzing US Census Data: Methods, Maps, and Models in R.

Python users may also be interested in pygris, a Python port of the tigris package.

Available datasets:

Please note: cartographic boundary files in tigris are not available for 2011 and 2012.

FunctionDatasets availableYears available
nation()cartographic (1:5m; 1:20m)2013-2022
divisions()cartographic (1:500k; 1:5m; 1:20m)2013-2022
regions()cartographic (1:500k; 1:5m; 1:20m)2013-2022
states()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k; 1:5m; 1:20m)1990, 2000, 2010-2022
counties()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k; 1:5m; 1:20m)1990, 2000, 2010-2022
tracts()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)1990, 2000, 2010-2022
block_groups()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)1990, 2000, 2010-2022
blocks()TIGER/Line2000, 2010-2022
places()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)2011-2022
pumas()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)2012-2022
school_districts()TIGER/Line; cartographic2011-2022
zctas()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)2000, 2010, 2012-2022
congressional_districts()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k; 1:5m; 1:20m)2011-2022
state_legislative_districts()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)2011-2022
voting_districts()TIGER/Line2012, 2020
area_water()TIGER/Line2011-2022
linear_water()TIGER/Line2011-2022
coastlineTIGER/Line()2013-2022
core_based_statistical_areas()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k; 1:5m; 1:20m)2011-2022
combined_statistical_areas()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k; 1:5m; 1:20m)2011-2022
metro_divisions()TIGER/Line2011-2022
new_england()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)2011-2022
county_subdivisions()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)2010-2022
urban_areas()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)2012-2022
primary_roads()TIGER/Line2011-2022
primary_secondary_roads()TIGER/Line2011-2022
roads()TIGER/Line2011-2022
rails()TIGER/Line2011-2022
native_areas()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)2011-2022
alaska_native_regional_corporations()TIGER/Line; cartographic (1:500k)2011-2022
tribal_block_groups()TIGER/Line2011-2022
tribal_census_tracts()TIGER/Line2011-2022
tribal_subdivisions_national()TIGER/Line2011-2022
landmarks()TIGER/Line2011-2022
military()TIGER/Line2011-2022

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Install

install.packages('tigris')

Monthly Downloads

13,854

Version

2.1

License

MIT + file LICENSE

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Last Published

January 24th, 2024

Functions in tigris (2.1)