I have been asked to calculate and compare the population density of incorporated cities using 2020 census data. I can obtain the population figures for all places, including incorporated cities, from the Census Bureau's ftp server (www2.census.gov). What I am not able to locate is a comprehensive geoheader file, so that I can link based on GEO_ID, get the AREALAND values for each relevant place, then calculate population density. I realize that this calculation might not be advisable given the vagaries of differential privacy, but I'm only interested in larger cites (over 50,000) so I' willing to take that risk.
Can anyone direct me to a resource for GEO_IDs and/ or area values, or, better yet, a comprehensive list of already calculated 2020 population densities?
If you get a 2020 census data table through IPUMS NHGIS, it comes with much of the geoheader file content attached, including land area. I.e., you could get 2020 total populations and land areas for 2020 places in a single data file in a single request.Note: previously, NHGIS omitted most of the geoheader content, so land area isn't generally available in its older data files. We plan to re-add land area to the historical files soon, along with many other currently omitted fields, where available. As I recall, land area has never been included in ACS summary files, so ACS data from NHGIS will not include land area either now or in the near future.
Thanks - get me what I needed.