September 2004

URGENT 

ZIPSOURCE RECORD LAYOUT CHANGE

Please give this to the person responsible for maintaining this system at your company!!!!!!

Dear Customer:

The record length of the ZipSource file will be changing with the Dec. 2004 release. This change is needed because the Office of Management and Budget has changed the MSA code definitions.

In order to accommodate these new codes and provide the most accurate and up to date information, we need to increase the record length of the file.

The current record length to the ZipSource file is 160; the new record length will be 180.

The following fields will be added to the record:

Pos 156-160 = Micropolitan Statistical Area Code

Pos 161-165 = Metropolitan Statistical Area Code

Pos 166-170 = Metropolitan Division Code

Pos 171-173 = Combined Statistical Area Code

Pos 174-180 = Not used at this time.

If are not receiving the MSA option to your ZipSource file, the record length will still change but those new fields will contain blanks.

Currently there are approximately 63300 records on the file. Of those records, approximately 34058 have some type of MSA code.

The Office of Management and Budget will no longer be assigning a Population Level code to any of these Statistical Areas.

The following fields on the ZipSource file that contain the MSA data will no longer be supported when this change is complete. These fields will remain on the file for your reference.

            Pos 109 = Population Level

            Pos 110-111 = CMSA

            Pos 112-115 = PMSA, MSA or NECMA code

If you need to obtain more information about the Updated Statistical Area Definitions, you can review the OMB bulletin by visiting www.whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/fy04/print/b04-03.html