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 places in that they contain a residential nucleus, have a closely spaced street pattern and frequently have commercial or other urban types of land use. The Census Bureau relies on the assistance of local census statistical areas committees (CSACs), various State authorities, and other organizations to identify potential CDPs and update existing ones. This chapter contains separate discussions of incorporated places and census designated places.

Incorporated places are established under the authorization of the governments in each of the 50 States. Requirements for incorporation vary widely among the States; some States have few specific criteria, while others have established population thresholds and occasionally other conditions (for example, minimum land area, population density, and distance from other existing incorporated places) that must be met for incorporation (see ). The Census Bureau recognizes incorporated places in all States except Hawaii; for Hawaii, by agreement with the Office of the Governor, the Census Bureau recognizes all places as CDPs rather than as incorporated places. Puerto Rico and several of the Outlying Areas under United States jurisdiction (Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau) also have no incorporated places (for details, see, “Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas”).

Different States recognize a variety of entities as incorporated places. Usually, the designations city, town, village, and borough are most frequent; however, one or more places in Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, and Tennessee have place-type governments (usually consolidated ones) that do not fit any of these designations. New Jersey is the only State that has all four kinds of incorporated places. Only two other States (Connecticut and Pennsylvania) include boroughs as incorporated places, 11 States have only cities, and the remainder of the States have various combinations of city, town, and village (see ).

The terms town and borough do not always refer to places. In the six New England States, and in New York and Wisconsin, the term town refers to an MCD rather than a place. The MCDs in these States, while often functioning 9-2Places