Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing

"TIGER" redirects here. For the American federal grant program, see Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery. For other uses, see Tiger (disambiguation).

Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing, known as TIGER or TIGER/Line, is a format used by the United States Census Bureau to describe physical and cultural features, including roads, highways, city limits, rivers, and lakes, as well as areas such as census tracts. The Bureau developed TIGER to support and enhance the process of conducting the Decennial Census. Developed in collaboration with the United States Geological Survey during the 1980s, TIGER became the first nationwide digital map of roads, boundaries, and water. It was initially created for the 1990 Census to modernize the once-a-decade headcount. However, its impact has extended well beyond its initial purpose by providing common map data in electronic form, which supports today's geographic information system industry. TIGER still serves as the basemap for many commercial and open-source map projects in rural areas of the United States. However, commercial mapping companies now provide newer and more detailed mapping data in urban and high-growth areas.

The TIGER files contain only geospatial/map data and do not include census demographic data. GIS can merge census demographics and other data sources with the TIGER files to create maps and conduct analyses. TIGER data is available at no cost because U.S. Government publications must be released into the public domain.

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