U.S. 2026 Data Patch for ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro 3.6.5 and earlier only

Description

This article provides instructions on how to download and install updated data summarization files to correct performance issues with population density and other land area variables in ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro.

Note:
This patch is intended for ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro 3.6.5 and earlier ONLY.

Updates were made to the calculations of land area variables first in the U.S. 2025 data patch, this update calculates land area using block group geometry rather than block points, which was not always accurate in lower-density areas. Now these updates are included in the U.S. 2026 local dataset.

This update unfortunately causes slow processing performance in ArcGIS Pro 3.6.5 and earlier versions. Users of these earlier versions will notice performance issues while using a land area calculation variable, such as population density, for enrichment. The updated summarization files, once applied to your machine, are intended to improve this performance issue.

This workaround replaces the standard Business Analyst land area calculation with a calculation using a simple geodesic area. Calculations using geodesic area provide measurements using the Earth’s curvature. Geodesic area may return inconsistent results for land areas along water bodies, such as coastal areas or lakes.

Procedure

1. Download and extract the files in the attached us_summarizations_2026_updated.zip file.
2. Navigate to the following folder in the U.S. 2026 data files:

C:\ArcGIS\Business Analyst\US_2026\Data\Demographic Data (File path might be slightly different)

1. Cut and paste the existing US_summarizations_esri.xml and US_summarizations_urbanicity files.xml out of that folder and move them somewhere, such as your desktop. (You can also overwrite the files with the updated ones, but it is safer to preserve the original files by following this step.)
2. Replace them with the updated files extracted from the .zip file in Step 1 to the folder location above.

3. Open ArcGIS Pro and clear the data cache for Business Analyst.

4. Open the Enrich Layer tool, click the Environments tab, and change the Parallel Processing Factor to "1".
   (This prevents ArcGIS Pro from splitting the work across multiple processes and impacting performance due to the overhead of coordinating these tasks.)

5. Run the tool with the Population Density variable, the cache will be re-created again, and the tool should run as expected.