The data provided herein denotes the estimated service areas for all Public Housing Authorities (PHA) receiving assistance through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (excluding Guam, the Marshall Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) developed this data set in response to repeated requests from HUD staff, researchers, and external partners. This is an experimental data set that is designed to aid researchers in studying the HUD-funded Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs. The methodology and the service areas themselves have not been validated by HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) or the Public Housing Agencies. PD&R welcomes engagement from internal and external stakeholders on the continued refinement and development of this data set. Please send any comments or questions to GISHelpDesk@hud.gov. Standards used to estimate PHA primary service areas are as follows: State-Level Public Housing Authorities:For the purposes of this dataset State-Level PHAs are identified through either their name, or their PHA Code also known as the Participant Code. Any PHA whose name contains the word “State”, or whose PHA Code begins with a ‘9’ (not including the two-character state code that begins the PHA code) is considered a State-Level PHA, and the service area therefore includes the entirety of that state. County-Level Public Housing Authorities:For the purposes of this dataset County-Level PHAs are identified as any PHA containing the word ‘County’ or ‘COUNTY’ in the organization’s formal name. The service area of a County-Level PHA includes the entire county after which the PHA is named, or the county which contains the majority of the units (combined low-rent and voucher) administered by the PHA. Moreover, a PHA that administers units located in jurisdictions outside the county for which the PHA is named, or the county which contains the majority of the units administered by the PHA, does not include those extraterritorial jurisdictions as part of its service area . Subsequently, the estimated service areas of housing authorities operating at a regional level, that is operating in multiple counties (contiguous or otherwise), are relegated to a single county. Local-Level Public Housing Authorities:For the purposes of this dataset Local-Level PHAs are identified as any PHA that does not fall into the category of State-Level or County-Level Public Housing Authority as described above. The service area for a Local-Level PHA is first defined as the primary Unit of General Local Government (UGLG) served by the PHA. The primary local government jurisdiction is defined as the UGLG that contains the largest share of total units (combined low-rent and voucher) administered by that PHA. However, in cases where greater than 20% of units administered by that PHA are located outside of the primary local government jurisdiction served by the PHA, the PHA’s service area is defined as the entirety of the county that the primary local government is located in.Please note, that the methods used to compile the estimated local PHA service areas illustrated in this dataset remain the same regardless of a state’s allowance for state-wide voucher portability.