How to create census tract maps in Power BI

[Bryan_Schmidt]

Is it possible to create census tract maps in Power BI? If so, can someone please advise the steps to take? I've downloaded the shapefiles from the Census Bureau. Power BI doesn't allow importing of shapefiles but does support those in JSON format. I have converted a few of these to JSON format and imported them to Power BI. I have tried using the shape map visual in Power BI to display the results but regardless of what I enter in the Location or Legend box, nothing appears on the map. I need to know the following:

1. What shapefiles are needed to display census tracts and their related numbers? There are multiple shapefiles with extensions of shp, shx, dbf, and others. For now I just need to show census tract boundaries and tract numbers.

2. After the JSON file has been imported to Power BI, what steps are needed to display the tract boundaries and numbers?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[amitchandak]

@Bryan_Schmidt , check if some of these can help

Map Json - Shape Map
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/desktop-shape-map
https://dataveld.com/2016/09/12/topojson-map-files-for-power-bi-shape-map/
https://medium.com/weareservian/power-bi-custom-maps-part-ii-shape-map-939873da3f66
https://radacad.com/shape-map-better-than-the-filled-map
https://doc.arcgis.com/en/maps-for-powerbi/get-started/prepare-your-data.htm

Custom map
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Create-Your-Own-Custom-Map-for-Power-BI/td-p/165854

[Bryan_Schmidt]

Thank you for replying to my question. I looked at all the links you provided and, unfortunately, none of them answer my questions. I'm guessing I don't have the correct shapefiles converted to JSON format. There are 125 shapefiles for Polk County, Oregon. Which of these needs to be converted to JSON format? If it is just those with shx, shp, and dbf extensions, there are multiples of these so I need to know which ones. It's interesting that census tract is not an option that appears in Data Category. Does this mean Power BI is not able to recognize census tract geography?