FPDS Query Library
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County

Human-readable county name for the place where contract performance occurs, as reported in the award record’s place-of-performance ZIP code structure. It is a geographic label, not a numeric code, and may reflect the county associated with the reported performance location.

Family: Award
Category: Place Of Performance
Data Type: identifier_or_code
Semantic Type: identifier
Mapping: flattened_fpds_xml_field
AI Confidence: high

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__placeOfPerformance__placeOfPerformanceZIPCode__county
Title
County
FPDS Path
award/placeOfPerformance/placeOfPerformanceZIPCode/county
Description
Human-readable county name for the place where contract performance occurs, as reported in the award record’s place-of-performance ZIP code structure. It is a geographic label, not a numeric code, and may reflect the county associated with the reported performance location.
Business Meaning
County-level location data supports geographic analysis of federal contract performance, including local economic impact, regional concentration of awards, and spatial comparisons across jurisdictions. It is useful for mapping performance sites and linking FPDS activity to county-based demographic, labor, or policy datasets.
Example Value
NEW YORK
Observed Non-Null Count
89,187,666

FPDS Compare

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__placeOfPerformance__placeOfPerformanceZIPCode__county
FPDS XML Path
award/placeOfPerformance/placeOfPerformanceZIPCode/county
Mapping Type
flattened_fpds_xml_field
Comparison Summary
FPDS Query flattens the original nested FPDS XML path 'award/placeOfPerformance/placeOfPerformanceZIPCode/county' into the SQL-ready variable 'content__award__placeOfPerformance__placeOfPerformanceZIPCode__county'.

Use Cases

  • Dictionary lookup and field explanation
  • SQL filtering and grouping
  • Analytical reporting and reusable query building
  • Geographic award analysis

Common Usage

  • Geographic rollups of awards by performance county
  • Joining FPDS performance locations to county reference or GIS data
  • Filtering awards to a specific county or metro area

Common Mistakes

  • Assuming the county is standardized across all records without cleaning
  • Using this field alone to geocode or identify a unique location

Query Guidance

Use equality filters and standardized text normalization when grouping or joining, for example UPPER(TRIM(county)). For analysis, combine with ZIP code, state, and place-of-performance fields, and avoid relying on this field as a surrogate key unless you have already validated a reference mapping.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__award__placeOfPerformance__placeOfPerformanceZIPCode__county AS county
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__placeOfPerformance__placeOfPerformanceZIPCode__county IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__award__placeOfPerformance__placeOfPerformanceZIPCode__county AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__placeOfPerformance__placeOfPerformanceZIPCode__county IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY value
ORDER BY record_count DESC
LIMIT 25

Each dictionary item includes SQL-ready examples generated alongside the variable metadata, allowing immediate use in FPDS Query for filtering, aggregation, and analysis.