County-Equivalents Explained: Parishes, Boroughs, Planning Regions, and Independent Cities
A practical guide to the areas that function like counties in U.S. Census geography—and why a complete county map includes them.
The short answer
A county-equivalent is a geographic unit the U.S. Census Bureau uses in place of a county where the local system has a different name or structure. A complete map of U.S. counties therefore includes counties plus parishes, boroughs, census areas, planning regions, independent cities, and the District of Columbia.
The term is statistical. It does not mean every unit has the same government, powers, or history.
Where the names differ
| Place | County-equivalent geography |
|---|---|
| Louisiana | Parishes |
| Alaska | Organized boroughs and census areas |
| Connecticut | Planning regions |
| Virginia | Counties and independent cities |
| Maryland, Missouri, and Nevada | Counties plus one independent city each |
| District of Columbia | One county-equivalent |
Louisiana parishes
Louisiana’s primary county-level divisions are called parishes. The name reflects the state’s French and Spanish colonial history. On national datasets, parish FIPS codes occupy the same county-level field used elsewhere.
Alaska boroughs and census areas
Alaska does not divide its entire land area into counties. Organized boroughs provide regional government in some areas. The Census Bureau and the State of Alaska divide the remaining unorganized territory into census areas for statistical purposes.
Connecticut planning regions
Connecticut’s historical counties stopped serving as active county governments decades ago. In 2022, the Census Bureau adopted nine councils of governments, commonly presented as planning regions, as the state’s county-equivalents. Current federal datasets and maps should use those nine regions rather than the former eight counties.
Independent cities
An independent city is legally separate from any surrounding county. Virginia has the largest group. Baltimore, Maryland; St. Louis, Missouri; and Carson City, Nevada also appear as county-equivalents in national data.
Why the distinction matters
If you join a national dataset to a map, excluding county-equivalents creates gaps. It can also produce the wrong total or leave residents in independent cities unmatched. Use the five-digit county FIPS code—not the display name alone—when connecting tables to boundaries.
What county-equivalent does not mean
It does not guarantee identical local services, elected offices, taxing powers, or legal status. County government varies widely even among areas called counties. Treat “county-equivalent” as a consistent geographic level for national statistics, not a description of government structure.
Source
U.S. Census Bureau, Geographic Areas Reference Manual and 2025 Cartographic Boundary Files. Connecticut boundary changes follow the Census Bureau’s adoption of the state’s planning regions as county-equivalents.