HMDA County Codes
Quickly find the county codes for addresses for HMDA and other regulatory purposes
Quick Answer: What are HMDA Codes?
HMDA (the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act) requires financial institutions to report a 5-digit FIPS county code and 11-digit Census tract for each covered loan application. These codes identify the property's county and Census tract as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. It's important that the FIPS code issuance year matches the year of the loan application. You can look them up one at a time, or add them to an entire address list at once using Geocodio's spreadsheet upload or API.
What Are HMDA County Codes?
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires banks, credit unions, and mortgage lenders to report data about mortgage applications and originations. Among the required fields: the county and Census tract where the property is located.
These aren't special codes unique to HMDA. They're standard FIPS codes assigned by the U.S. Census Bureau (see: Complete Guide to FIPS Codes). The FFIEC's Filing Instructions Guide specifies the exact format: a 5-digit county code and an 11-digit Census tract number for each covered loan or application.
If you have a list of property addresses and need the county codes for your HMDA filing, Geocodio can add them in bulk. Upload a spreadsheet or use the API, select "US Census Identifiers," and Geocodio will add county FIPS, Census tracts, MSA codes, and more for every address.
Which Codes Does HMDA Require?
The HMDA Loan Application Register (LAR) requires two geographic identifiers for each property:
County (5-digit FIPS code): The first two digits identify the state and the last three identify the county. For example, 06037 is Los Angeles County, California (06 = California, 037 = Los Angeles County).
Census Tract (11-digit code): This combines the 5-digit county code with a 6-digit tract number. For example, 06037264000 identifies a specific Census tract within Los Angeles County.
Geocodio returns both of County and Census Tract FIPS Codes, plus additional fields useful for HMDA and related compliance work: MSA/CSA codes (used to determine HMDA reporting thresholds and institutional coverage), Place FIPS, Block codes, and the full, pre-concatenated 11-digit and 15-digit FIPS codes.
Geocodio also returns FFIEC low/moderate/middle/upper income bands as a separate data append, which pairs with HMDA county codes for income-based compliance analysis like CRA reporting.
Why the Census Year Matters for HMDA
This is the part that trips people up. Census tract boundaries change over time, and the FFIEC Filing Instructions Guide is specific: you must use the boundaries and codes effective January 1st of the calendar year covered by your filing. If you are reporting 2025 data in 2026, use 2025 Census boundaries.
Using the wrong vintage means your data may not pass the HMDA validation edits, and you will need to reprocess and resubmit. For institutions filing across multiple years, each year's data needs its own matching Census vintage.
Geocodio lets you pick the Census year when you run your lookups. Boundaries are available for every year from 2010 through 2025, as well as 2000. Select the year that matches your filing period, and the county codes, tracts, and MSA codes will reflect the correct boundaries.
How to Add HMDA County Codes to a List of Addresses
There are two ways to add HMDA county codes to your address data with Geocodio:
Spreadsheet Upload
Upload a CSV or Excel file with your property addresses. Check the box for "US Census Identifiers," select the correct Census year for your filing period, and download the results. Geocodio will add county FIPS, Census tract, MSA/CSA, and more to each row.
API
Use the Geocodio API with the census field append for real-time lookups, batch processing, or integration into your existing loan origination workflow. The Lists API endpoint handles large CSV files programmatically.
Both methods return the same data. The spreadsheet upload is the fastest path if you have a file ready to go. The API is better if you need to build HMDA county code lookups into an automated pipeline.
Census Years Back to 2010
State FIPS
County FIPS
Place Name
Place FIPS
Tract Code
Block Code
15 Digit FIPS Code
11 Digit FIPS Code
Metro/Micro Statistical Area (MSA)
Combined Statistical Area (CSA)
Metropolitan Division
What Geocodio Returns with Census Identifiers
Common HMDA County Code Questions
Use the Census boundaries that were effective January 1st of the calendar year your data covers. For example, if you are reporting 2025 loan data (filed in 2026), use 2025 Census boundaries. Geocodio lets you select the year when you upload a spreadsheet or make an API call.
Yes. When you select US Census Identifiers, Geocodio returns Metro/Micro Statistical Area (MSA) and Combined Statistical Area (CSA) codes along with county FIPS and Census tracts. MSA codes are used in HMDA to determine institutional reporting thresholds and coverage.
Yes. Upload a CSV or Excel file with your addresses using the spreadsheet tool, or use the batch API or Lists API endpoint for programmatic processing. Geocodio handles datasets of any size.
Some addresses (PO boxes, certain rural routes, or incomplete addresses) may not geocode to a rooftop-level match. Geocodio returns the best available result. For HMDA purposes, the Filing Instructions Guide says to enter "NA" if the county is not applicable to the covered loan.
Yes. Geocodio offers FFIEC low/moderate/middle/upper income tract categories as a separate data append. You can add it alongside Census identifiers in the same request to get both HMDA county codes and income data for CRA compliance in one step.
Common HMDA County Code Questions
Use the Census boundaries that were effective January 1st of the calendar year your data covers. For example, if you are reporting 2025 loan data (filed in 2026), use 2025 Census boundaries. Geocodio lets you select the year when you upload a spreadsheet or make an API call.
Yes. When you select US Census Identifiers, Geocodio returns Metro/Micro Statistical Area (MSA) and Combined Statistical Area (CSA) codes along with county FIPS and Census tracts. MSA codes are used in HMDA to determine institutional reporting thresholds and coverage.
Yes. Upload a CSV or Excel file with your addresses using the spreadsheet tool, or use the batch API or Lists API endpoint for programmatic processing. Geocodio handles datasets of any size.
Some addresses (PO boxes, certain rural routes, or incomplete addresses) may not geocode to a rooftop-level match. Geocodio returns the best available result. For HMDA purposes, the Filing Instructions Guide says to enter "NA" if the county is not applicable to the covered loan.
Yes. Geocodio offers FFIEC low/moderate/middle/upper income tract categories as a separate data append. You can add it alongside Census identifiers in the same request to get both HMDA county codes and income data for CRA compliance in one step.
Related Resources
Bulk Lookup Census FIPS Codes
How to add Census FIPS codes, blocks, tracts, MSAs/CSAs to a spreadsheet of addresses or via API.
Complete Guide to FIPS Codes
Everything you need to know about FIPS codes: what they are, how they work, and how to look them up in bulk.
FFIEC Income Data
Add FFIEC median family income data to addresses for CRA reporting and income-based compliance analysis.
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