2020 CPUMA Release

Hello, I’m curious if there is a planned release date for updated CPUMAs? I’m hoping for something that can map each 2020 census tract definition to a consistent puma - preferably one that builds on the 2010 definition, i.e., is consistent for the years 2000-2030. I’ve read that this product is coming, but I haven’t heard any updates on its release timeline.

Thank you!

As mentioned in this post, we plan to add a new CPUMA1020 variable that creates areas that can be consistently identified with either 2010 or 2020 PUMAs, as used in ACS samples from 2012 through (prospectively) 2031. We aim to release the CPUMA1020 variable sometime within the next year. We will look into extending CPUMA0010 to identify consistent areas for the entire 2000-2031 time frame, but we don’t have plans for that yet.

In the meantime, you might consider creating your own crosswalk of 2020 census tracts to CPUMA0010. The Missouri Census Data Center Geocorr tool can be used to generate a relationship file between 2020 census tracts and 2010 PUMAs (referred to as 2012 PUMAs in the tool). From there, you can match the census tract’s 2010 PUMA to the corresponding CPUMA0010 value using our composition and relationship files. This method avoids having to create a new consistent PUMA definition, but it is an imperfect solution since you will have a number of 2020 census tracts that do not perfectly map onto a 2010 PUMA. Matching all of the tracts to a single 2000-2031 PUMA will require creating a new consistent PUMA definition.