This Insight accompanies the Congressional District Geography Workbook, a Microsoft Excel file that congressional users can download from CRS.gov. The workbook provides information about U.S. House districts as configured in the 119th Congress (2025-2026).
It supersedes the version published for the 118th Congress: CRS Insight IN12393, Congressional District Geography Workbook (118th Congress): An Interactive Tool for Congressional Users, by Ben Leubsdorf.
This new Workbook incorporates updated datasets, new categories of geographic areas and features, and revised district boundaries in five states (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, and North Carolina).
The Congressional District Geography Workbook contains information about selected geographic areas and features located inside each of the 435 congressional districts across all 50 states. It also includes information for the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands.
The 28 available categories of geographic areas and features are as follows:
A geographic area or feature is associated with a specific congressional district when it is located fully or partly inside that district's boundaries. An area or feature may be located entirely within a single district or split between two or more districts.
The workbook, when downloaded and opened in Microsoft Excel, contains five sheets that can be accessed via tabs at the bottom of the screen.
The workbook sheets are formatted for ease of use and are password-protected to prevent changes.
CRS can provide Members and staffers with additional analysis and information upon request (e.g., points of interest not included in the Workbook, additional information for some categories, or the extent of overlaps for areas split among more than one district).
CRS acquired data from the sources described below in April 2025, unless otherwise noted. These datasets were the most recent available, though they may have been compiled or updated at different times. The workbook may contain errors, including potential mistakes present in the source datasets.
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) at the U.S. Department of Transportation provided information about airports, ferry terminals, spaceports, train stations, and transit systems (based on transit agency office and stop locations). CRS used the tigris and sf packages in the R statistical programming language to match each facility's longitude and latitude coordinates, as provided by BTS, with a corresponding congressional district. (CRS used the same district-matching procedure for several other categories as well.) The Airport list comprises public-use airports eligible for federal funding as listed in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. The Train Station list excludes Amtrak-operated bus stops. The Spaceport list includes commercial and federal launch and reentry sites. The Transit System category assigns each agency to any congressional district that contains the agency's office or at least one bus, subway, or other stop served by that system. Because these facilities are all represented by point locations, their district assignments may not capture the full extent of their physical footprints
The Census Bureau in the U.S. Department of Commerce provided information about counties, county subdivisions, Native American areas, places, and school districts. Its Congressional District Relationship Files contain crosswalks between 119th Congress congressional districts and geographic areas used in the 2020 census.
CRS matched state legislative districts in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to congressional districts using the Census Bureau's 2024 State Legislative Block Equivalency Files (BEFs) and 119th Congress BEFs. Relationships between state legislative and congressional districts were established based on shared census blocks, with split blocks assigned to all matching districts.
CRS in December 2024 and January 2025 matched five-digit ZIP codes to congressional districts using GIS software and data from Esri. These include ZIP codes that represent single delivery points as well as approximated delivery areas, as of 2023. This should not be taken as an official or definitive placement of ZIP codes in congressional districts, and slight differences in methodology may result in different results.
The Department of Defense (DOD) provided information directly to CRS in November 2024 about military installations in each congressional district. The source dataset excludes some facilities due to national security concerns as well as relatively small facilities, including many National Guard and Reserve sites. It also excludes U.S. Coast Guard facilities, which fall under the Department of Homeland Security.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) at the U.S. Department of Energy provided information about power plants. The dataset contains all operable electric generating facilities in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico with nameplate capacity of at least 1 megawatt. CRS matched each power plant's longitude and latitude coordinates, as provided by EIA, with a corresponding congressional district. Plant names are accompanied by information on that facility's city location and energy source(s).
The major sports venue category includes U.S. home arenas and stadiums used by professional baseball (MLB and MiLB), basketball (NBA, WNBA, and G League), football (NFL), hockey (NHL, PWHL, AHL, and ECHL), and soccer (MLS and NWSL) teams as well as additional stadiums with seating capacity of 30,000 or more. Stadium locations provided by the FAA, as well as geocoded addresses for a CRS-assembled list of smaller facilities, were matched with corresponding congressional districts. Because these facilities are represented by point locations, their district assignments may not capture the full extent of their physical footprints.
The Government Publishing Office (GPO) provided information about federal depository libraries in each congressional district, via the Federal Depository Library Directory.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) provided information about public libraries and museums. CRS relied on IMLS's 118th Congress district assignments for public libraries in most states. For public libraries in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, and North Carolina, as well as all museums, CRS matched each location's longitude and latitude coordinates, as provided by IMLS, with a corresponding congressional district. Each library's name is followed by its system name in parentheses, unless the two names are identical. The museums dataset includes related institutions such as arboretums, art galleries, historical societies, and zoos. Each museum's name is followed by its city in parentheses.
The Internal Revenue Service's Exempt Organizations Business Master File Extract contained address information for nearly 6,700 chambers of commerce (tax-exempt 501(c)6 organizations with classification code 3) registered with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. CRS geocoded each address to generate longitude and latitude coordinates, then matched each point with a corresponding congressional district. Some addresses that could not be geocoded were instead matched based on states and ZIP codes associated with a single congressional district. District assignments were not available for roughly 15% of these organizations, most listing P.O. boxes as addresses; those groups are omitted.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MHSA) at the U.S. Department of Labor provided information about active and intermittently active coal, metal, and non-metal mines via its Mine Data Retrieval System. CRS matched each mine's longitude and latitude coordinates, as provided by MHSA, with a corresponding congressional district. Fewer than 1% of active and intermittently active mines could not be matched with a congressional district due to missing or inaccurate coordinates; those mines are omitted. Mine names are accompanied by information about its nearest town or city and primary commodity. Because mines are represented by point locations, congressional-district assignments may not capture the full extent of a mine's physical footprint.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) at the U.S. Department of Education provided information about public elementary and secondary schools, private elementary and secondary schools, and postsecondary institutions via its Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program. CRS relied on NCES's 118th Congress district assignments for public schools and postsecondary institutions in most states. For public schools and postsecondary institutions in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, and North Carolina, as well as all private schools, CRS matched each location's longitude and latitude coordinates, as provided by NCES, with a corresponding congressional district. The most recent files available were 2023-2024 data for public and postsecondary schools and 2021-2022 data for private schools. The private school dataset does not include schools in U.S. territories. Because postsecondary institutions are represented by point locations, congressional-district assignments may not capture the full extent of a college or university's campus. The postsecondary institution category may include administrative offices that are not necessarily associated with student populations.
The National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics (NCVAS) at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provided information directly to CRS about the location of VA facilities. CRS matched each facility's longitude and latitude coordinates, as provided by NCVAS, with a corresponding congressional district. Because facilities are represented by point locations, congressional-district assignments may not capture the full extent of a facility's physical footprint.
The National Park Service in the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) provided information about national parks and other National Park System units in each district. The National Park System includes national parks, battlefields, historic sites, preserves, monuments, memorials, and other areas.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at DOD provided information directly to CRS in December 2024 about ports in each district, including ports on rivers and lakes as well as seaports. This list includes port statistical areas, which are defined in legislation and may extend well beyond the port's physical infrastructure.
The U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided information directly to CRS in January 2025 about national forests and other National Forest System units in each district, adapted from the agency's Land Areas of the National Forest System reports. The National Forest System includes national forests, national grasslands, land utilization projects, purchase units, research and experimental areas, and other areas.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at DOI provided information about state capitol buildings. CRS matched each building's longitude and latitude coordinates, as provided by USGS, with a corresponding congressional district. This list includes legislature buildings in territories and the District of Columbia.
This Workbook was initially published in January 2025.
It may be updated again in 2025 and 2026 to incorporate changes to its underlying datasets. Any additional updates will be noted in this space so users are aware when a new version is available to download.
CRS plans to publish a new version of the Congressional District Geography Workbook in 2027 to incorporate any changes to congressional-district boundaries for the 120th Congress (2027-2028), as well as updates to source datasets.