simplemaplab

About SimpleMapLab

SimpleMapLab is an independent geographic-tools website. It exists to make public-domain map data — US Census boundaries, OpenStreetMap geometry, USGS elevation, Natural Earth shapes — accessible to non-specialists through fast, free, browser-based tools and reproducible studies.

66
interactive map tools, free and account-less
23
size-comparison articles with overlay maps
3
open-data studies under CC-BY 4.0
110
printable blank maps in SVG, PNG, and PDF

Who runs SimpleMapLab

SimpleMapLab is built and edited by a small independent team with backgrounds in software development, cartography, and open-data work. The site has no marketing department and no external investors. Decisions about what to build, what data to use, and how to phrase findings are made in-house against the editorial standards described on the Editorial Policy page.

The team can be reached at hello@simplemaplab.com for press inquiries, corrections, custom data requests, or feedback on any specific tool. Typical reply time is one to three business days; press requests for confirmed deadlines are prioritised.

What the site offers

The site has four content areas, all built from the same open-data backbone:

Interactive map tools (66)

Every tool runs entirely in your browser — no account, no login, no API key. The tools cover the most common geographic tasks people ask the internet to perform. Examples:

The complete catalogue is at simplemaplab.com/tools.

Open-data studies (3 published, more in progress)

Studies are original, reproducible geographic-research pieces published with downloadable JSON and CSV datasets under a Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence. Each study includes the full methodology, per-state breakdowns, and a permanent citation block. Three studies are currently published:

The full studies index is at simplemaplab.com/studies.

Blog (8 long-form posts)

The blog is a small set of long-form reference guides on radius maps, US counties, state populations, and related geographic topics. Posts are factual and topical, not listicles; each one is built to be the canonical answer to a specific question. The size-comparisons cluster adds another 23 long-form articles on country, state, and continent size.

Blank printable maps (110)

The blank-maps library covers every US state plus continents and most major countries. Each map comes in four variants (blank, labeled, colored, with cities) and three formats (SVG, PNG, PDF). All maps are public-domain, with attribution welcomed but not required.

Our editorial principles

SimpleMapLab follows four principles that distinguish it from the content-farm pages that dominate many geographic-tool search results:

  1. Transparent methodology. Every tool page and every study explains how the calculation was made and what data source was used. Errors are easier to spot when the math is shown. The full methodology is on the Methodology page.
  2. Open data, open licence.Studies are published with downloadable JSON and CSV under CC-BY 4.0. Blank maps are public domain. Tool calculations run client-side so there's no proprietary black box.
  3. Specific over vague.Where data exists for a real number, we use it. Where it doesn't, we say so. Findings are stated with named places, named sources, and bounded uncertainty.
  4. Corrections in public. Errors are inevitable in any project that processes 41,000+ ZIP codes against multiple data sources. When we get one wrong, we fix it and note the correction on the affected page. See the Editorial Policy for the full correction process.

How SimpleMapLab is funded

The site is funded by display advertising on tool, blog, and study pages. No content on the site is sponsored, pay-to-play, or influenced by ad-network preferences. Tools and studies are independent of any advertiser relationship.

Technology stack

All tools run client-side in your browser. There is no backend that processes your data.

Privacy and data handling

SimpleMapLab does not store user location data. GPS coordinates and search queries are processed in your browser or sent directly to the relevant open-source service (Photon, Nominatim, Valhalla, Open-Meteo). The site does not maintain a user database. The only analytics layer is Google Analytics 4 for aggregate visitor counts. Display advertising (Google AdSense / Raptive when active) uses cookies per their respective privacy policies. Full details on the Privacy Policy page.

Working with SimpleMapLab

For journalists and researchers

All study datasets are downloadable under CC-BY 4.0. The methodology for each study is published on the study page itself; high-resolution map renders and per-state breakdowns are available on request. Standard attribution: SimpleMapLab (year). [Study title]. URL. Email hello@simplemaplab.com with your publication, deadline, and what you need.

For educators

Blank maps and study datasets are free to use in classroom materials, lecture slides, and student assignments without prior permission. Attribution is welcomed (e.g., “Map from SimpleMapLab, simplemaplab.com”) but not required for public-domain blank maps. CC-BY 4.0 studies require attribution.

For developers

Most tools have shareable URLs that encode their state in the hash (e.g., /tools/map-radius-tool#lat=…&lng=…&r=…) — useful for embedding in your own pages or sharing a specific result. The study datasets are downloadable JSON/CSV. Anything else, get in touch.

Contact

Email hello@simplemaplab.comwith anything from bug reports to press requests to “we've used your data, here's the credit.” See the Contact page for subject-line guidance and response-time commitments.

Legal pages

Page last reviewed: 16 May 2026. Tool count, study count, and blog-post count reflect content live at that date. Maintained by the SimpleMapLab team; email hello@simplemaplab.com for corrections.