FPDS Query Library
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Location Code

Code identifying the principal place of performance for the award. It is a coded location value, not a narrative address, and is used to represent the primary geographic site where contract work is expected to be performed.

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__principalPlaceOfPerformance__locationCode
Title
Location Code
FPDS Path
award/placeOfPerformance/principalPlaceOfPerformance/locationCode
Description
Code identifying the principal place of performance for the award. It is a coded location value, not a narrative address, and is used to represent the primary geographic site where contract work is expected to be performed.
Business Meaning
This field supports geographic analysis of federal spending by place of performance, including state, county, congressional district, and locality-level patterns when the code is mapped to reference data. It is important for assessing where contract work occurs versus where the vendor is located, and for policy, regional impact, and market concentration analysis.
Example Value
73906
Observed Non-Null Count
28,222,741

FPDS Compare

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

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 award activity by place of performance
  • Joining to location reference tables for state or county reporting
  • Comparing performance location to vendor location or award office location

Common Mistakes

  • Using the code as if it were a human-readable place name
  • Aggregating without joining to the correct geographic reference or crosswalk

Query Guidance

Use this field as a join key or grouping key after normalizing its format and verifying the code set. In SQL, filter or group on the code only when you have a reliable reference mapping; otherwise join to a location dimension table to derive state, city, or region attributes for analysis.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__award__placeOfPerformance__principalPlaceOfPerformance__locationCode AS location_code
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__placeOfPerformance__principalPlaceOfPerformance__locationCode IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__award__placeOfPerformance__principalPlaceOfPerformance__locationCode AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__placeOfPerformance__principalPlaceOfPerformance__locationCode 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.