Civil Boundaries

The mission of the Civil Boundaries Program is to maintain and provide access to statewide civil boundary GIS data.

Civil Boundaries data is available for Download (Shapefile or Geodatabase) or as Web Services. 

Use Limitations: GIS civil boundaries data is for planning and general use purposes only and is not a substitute for legal boundary information kept by the NYS Department of State. The State of New York, acting through the New York State Office of Information Technology Services, makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the use of or reliance on the Data provided. The User accepts the Data provided “as is” with no guarantees that it is error free, complete, accurate, current or fit for any particular purpose and assumes all risks associated with its use. The State disclaims any responsibility or legal liability to Users for damages of any kind, relating to the providing of the Data or the use of it. Users should be aware that temporal changes may have occurred since this Data was created.

Questions?

Kate Kiyanitsa, Civil Boundaries Program Manager: 518-242-5041, [email protected]

NYS Geospatial Services: 518-242-5029, [email protected]

Counties: a vector polygon GIS file of all county boundaries in New York State. The file was originally a compilation of U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale digital vector files and NYS Department of Transportation 1:24,000-scale and 1:75,000-scale digital vector files. Boundaries were revised to 1:24,000-scale positional accuracy and selectively updated based on court decisions. Currently, boundary changes are made as needed based on authoritative sources. 

Counties Shoreline: a vector polygon GIS file of county boundaries in New York State up to, and using the shorelines of, major hydrographic features. The file was originally a compilation of U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale digital vector files and NYS Department of Transportation 1:24,000-scale and 1:75,000-scale digital vector files. Boundaries were revised to 1:24,000-scale positional accuracy and selectively updated based on court decisions. Currently, boundary changes are made as needed based on authoritative sources. 

Cities and Towns: a vector polygon GIS file of all city and town boundaries in New York State. The file was originally a compilation of U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale digital vector files and NYS Department of Transportation 1:24,000-scale and 1:75,000-scale digital vector files. Boundaries were revised to 1:24,000-scale positional accuracy and selectively updated based on municipal boundary reviews, court decisions and NYS Department of State Local Law filings for annexations, dissolutions, or incorporations. Currently, boundary changes are made based on NYS Department of State Local Law filings. Additional updates and corrections are made as needed in partnership with municipalities. 

Villages: a vector polygon GIS file of all village boundaries in New York State. The file was originally a compilation of U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale digital vector files and NYS Department of Transportation 1:24,000-scale and 1:75,000-scale digital vector files. Boundaries were revised to 1:24,000-scale positional accuracy and selectively updated based on municipal boundary reviews and NYS Department of State Local Law filings for annexations, dissolutions, or incorporations. Currently, boundary changes are made based on NYS Department of State Local Law filings. Additional updates and corrections are made as needed in partnership with municipalities. 

Indian Territories: a vector polygon GIS file of all Indian Territory boundaries in New York State. The file was originally a compilation of U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale digital vector files and NYS Department of Transportation 1:24,000-scale and 1:75,000-scale digital vector files. Boundaries were revised to 1:24,000-scale positional accuracy. Currently, boundary changes are made as needed based on authoritative sources. 

State: a vector polygon GIS file of the New York State boundary. The file was originally a compilation of U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale digital vector files and NYS Department of Transportation 1:24,000-scale and 1:75,000-scale digital vector files. The boundary was revised to 1:24,000-scale positional accuracy. 

State Shoreline: a vector polygon GIS file that includes 1) the New York State boundary over land areas and 2) the state shoreline, including islands, in areas where the state boundary extends over major hydrographic features. The purpose is to provide an "outline" of the state for GIS and cartographic uses. It can be used to clip the boundaries in the Cities, Towns and Counties feature classes in the Civil Boundaries geodatabase back to the shoreline if it is desired to only use or depict the land areas covered by those jurisdictions around the perimeter of the state. The boundaries were revised to 1:24,000-scale accuracy. Ongoing work will adjust the shorelines to 1:24,000-scale accuracy.