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How do I search by address using the Census Geocoder?

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How do I search by address using the Census Geocoder?

If you have not already done so, we encourage you to check out the address search functionality conveniently included on data.census.gov. You can access the address search by clicking the geography pin icon in the single search bar on the landing page of data.census.gov. This will provide results for the most commonly used levels of geography that the address falls within. For step-by-step instructions, see the FAQ: How do I search by address using data.census.gov.

 

You can also use the Census Geocoder to find a list of geographic areas that an address falls within. One advantage of the Census Geocoder is that it allows you to specify additional levels of geography that an address is associated with. To search by address using the Census Geocoder, view our short video Finding Geographic Information Using the Census Geocoder or follow the steps below:

1. Visit the Census Geocoder

2. Select one of the Parsed Address Processing options under the “Find Geographies” tab

3. Enter street address

4. Change the Vintage drop down menu to match the vintage of data you are seeking on data.census.gov (e.g. Census2020_Current)

5. Select Get Results

6. By default, you will get results for state, county, county subdivision, place, census tract, block, congressional district, state legislative district, and combined statistical area. Scroll to your desired section (e.g. Census Tracts) and see the Name

You can manually specify other geographies by editing the end of the URL. For example, to find the unified school district associated with an address, complete steps #1-4 outlined above, go to the address bar, add this to the end of the URL, and press enter:  &layers=12


Scroll to the relevant section of the results and look at the "Name." As an example, here is a screenshot showing the unified school district results after running the search for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500 and adding &layers=12 to the end of the URL: geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/geographies/address?street=1600+pennsylvania+ave+nw&city=washington&state=dc&zip=20500&benchmark=4&vintage=420&layers=12

You can find layers for all available geographic areas by clicking the relevant link at tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/. In this example, you should click the link to “tigerWMS_Census2020/MapServer” since you previously selected Census2020 in the vintage drop-down menu.

Multiple geographies can be added to the URL, too.  For example, to find the elementary, secondary, and unified school districts for an address, add &layers=14,16,18 to the end of the URL.

Contact Us

Email us at census.data@census.gov for any questions or comments you may have.  For more guidance on data availability and using data.census.gov, the Census API, and Microdata Access, visit our Resources page.

Page Last Revised - January 22, 2025
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