We are writing to announce an important update regarding how we distribute our bulk parcel dataset. Effective in the 2026.2 release coming up in April, we will no longer be offering the Shapefile format for bulk downloads of the full dataset. We understand that this change may impact some of our users, and we want to take this opportunity to explain the reasons behind this decision and provide guidance on the alternative formats available.

Going forward, we will primarily support the Geopackage file format for bulk file downloads.

Why We Are Discontinuing Shapefile Support

Our decision to transition away from the Shapefile format is driven by technical limitations that have become increasingly difficult to manage as our parcel dataset grows. The primary factors influencing this change are:

1. File Size Limits

The sheer volume of our complete parcel data has begun to push against practical and technical constraints imposed by the Shapefile format. While individual county or small-area Shapefiles can be managed, aggregating state-level data into a single Shapefile results in extremely large file sizes. This breaks down because of the hard 8GB size limit of Shapefiles: Many states simply cannot fit into a single Shapefile because the format imposes an 8GB per-file size limit.

2. Field Length Limitations and Data Truncation

The Shapefile format has a significant limitation on the length of data that can be stored in certain fields, most notably in the DBF file component. Our parcel dataset includes detailed attributes, such as the legaldesc field, which often contains extensive, highly detailed text descriptions.

The maximum character limit for fields in the Shapefile format is causing vital information to be truncated. In cases where fields are longer than 254 characters, they are truncated in Shapefile format. For example, our export process will return a warning that looks like this:

Warning: Value '45.5AC BEG SW COR SEC 1 TH N 420 NE 695 NW 370'N 610 NE 110 SE 600 NE 1210 E 700 S 390 SW 481.05 TO E R/W MARCH ST TH SE ALG R/W 432.88 NE 133.74 TO W R/W HICKSIND BLVD TH SW ALG R/W 1009.57 NW 444 NE 858'NW 470 SW 451 NW 140 SW 1535 SE 300 NE 95'SE 360 W 718 TO POB.' of field legaldesc has been truncated to 254 characters.

In the case of floating point values, we see warnings that look like this:

Value 102820483.599095315 of field calcarea of feature 2147292 not successfully written. Possibly due to too larger number with respect to field width

Data integrity is our top priority. To ensure all users receive the complete, un-truncated legal descriptions and other lengthy attribute data, we must move to a more modern, robust format that can accommodate these data lengths.

Recommended Alternative Formats

We have transitioned to formats that better support large datasets and maintain data fidelity. For users who need to download the complete parcel dataset, we strongly recommend using the GeoPackage (.gpkg) format.

The GeoPackage format is an open, standards-based format that is fully supported by all major GIS software platforms (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS). Key benefits include:

• No File Size Limits: GeoPackage is based on SQLite and can handle massive datasets without the practical size constraints of Shapefiles.
• No Data Truncation: It fully supports longer field lengths, ensuring the complete and accurate retention of information like the legaldesc field.
• Single File Structure: The entire dataset, including geometry and attributes, is stored in a single .gpkg file, making distribution and management simple.

We encourage you to update your workflows to utilize the GeoPackage format for all future bulk downloads. For more information on how to access the new file format, please refer to our Bulk Download Guide which you can find at File.

We appreciate your understanding as we continually work to improve the quality and accessibility of our data. If you have any questions or require assistance transitioning your processes, please contact our support team.