Convert any address, city, or landmark to latitude and longitude coordinates. Click the map to reverse geocode. Batch process up to 25 addresses with CSV export.
What is geocoding?
What is geocoding?
Geocoding is the process of converting a human-readable address (like "1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC") into geographic coordinates (latitude 38.8977, longitude -77.0365). Reverse geocoding does the opposite — it converts coordinates into a structured address. Both are essential for mapping, logistics, and location-based services.
Accuracy
How accurate is this tool?
This tool uses Nominatim, powered by OpenStreetMap data contributed by millions of mappers worldwide. For well-mapped areas (US, Europe, Japan, Australia), addresses resolve to rooftop-level accuracy. Rural or newly developed areas may resolve to street or neighborhood level. Coordinates are returned to 6 decimal places (~0.11 meter precision).
Coverage
What countries does it cover?
This geocoder works worldwide — any address or place name indexed in OpenStreetMap. Coverage is strongest in the US, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Developing regions have growing but sometimes incomplete address data. The tool clearly indicates when an address cannot be found.
Batch limit
How many addresses can I batch geocode?
The batch geocoder processes up to 25 addresses per session. Each address takes about 1 second due to Nominatim's rate limit (1 request per second). Results are displayed in a table and can be exported as CSV. For larger datasets, consider the Nominatim API directly or commercial geocoding services.
Loading map...
Type an address, click the map, or use GPS to geocode any location. The tool returns structured address components, coordinates, and metadata.
How to geocode an address
1
Enter an address or place name
Type any address, city, landmark, or place name in the search box. The autocomplete dropdown suggests matching locations as you type. Or click anywhere on the map to reverse geocode that point. The GPS button detects your current location.
2
View structured address components
The result panel breaks the geocoded location into structured fields: street, neighbourhood, city, county, state, postal code, and country. Each component has a copy button. Coordinates are shown in both decimal degrees and DMS format.
3
Batch geocode or export
Switch to the Batch tab to geocode up to 25 addresses at once — paste one per line, click Geocode All, and export the results as CSV with street, city, state, ZIP, country, latitude, and longitude columns.
What is geocoding?
Geocoding is the computational process of converting a text-based location description — such as a street address, city name, ZIP code, or landmark — into geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude). Every time you type an address into Google Maps or Uber, a geocoder translates your text into a pair of numbers that pinpoint a location on the Earth's surface.
EXAMPLE
Geocoding the White House Input: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500 Latitude: 38.897676 · Longitude: -77.036530 City: Washington · County: District of Columbia State: District of Columbia · ZIP: 20500 · Country: United States (US)
The reverse operation — reverse geocoding — takes a latitude/longitude pair and returns the nearest address. This is what happens when you drop a pin on a map and the app shows you the street name. Both operations are powered by the same underlying address database.
Forward vs reverse geocoding
Feature
Forward Geocoding
Reverse Geocoding
Input
Address or place name
Latitude + longitude
Output
Latitude + longitude
Structured address
How to use
Type in the search box
Click the map or use GPS
Best for
Converting mailing addresses to map pins
Finding what address is at a map point
Accuracy
Depends on address database coverage
Always returns nearest known address
Ambiguity
May return multiple candidates
Single result (nearest match)
What people use geocoding for
Real estate and property analysis
Real estate professionals geocode property addresses to plot them on maps, calculate distances to amenities, and perform spatial analysis. Bulk geocoding a list of listings lets you visualize inventory distribution across a metro area. Our Distance Calculator can then measure how far each property is from key landmarks.
E-commerce and logistics
Shipping companies geocode delivery addresses to optimize routes, calculate delivery zones, and estimate transit times. Geocoding also powers address validation — catching typos and formatting errors before a package ships. Combine with our Drive Time Map to visualize delivery coverage areas.
Data cleaning and enrichment
Analysts use batch geocoding to add coordinates to datasets that only contain text addresses. This enables spatial joins, proximity analysis, and map visualization. The CSV export from our batch geocoder gives you ready-to-import data with structured columns.
Emergency services and public safety
911 dispatchers, first responders, and emergency management teams reverse geocode GPS coordinates from mobile callers to determine street addresses. Understanding the structured address (including county and state) routes calls to the correct jurisdiction.
Travel and tourism
Travelers geocode hotel addresses, landmarks, and points of interest to plan itineraries and share locations. Reverse geocoding photos (using EXIF GPS data) lets you identify where each photo was taken — a common workflow for travel bloggers.
Academic research
Researchers in epidemiology, sociology, urban planning, and environmental science geocode survey respondent addresses for spatial analysis. The structured output (city, county, state, country) enables aggregation at multiple administrative levels. For US-specific lookups, our Address to County Lookup identifies the exact FIPS county.
Geocoding accuracy by region
Geocoding accuracy varies by location because it depends on the completeness of the underlying address database. OpenStreetMap — the data source for this tool — has excellent coverage in developed countries but more variable coverage elsewhere.
Region
Typical Accuracy
Notes
United States
Rooftop
Excellent — TIGER/Line imports + community edits
Canada
Rooftop
StatCan road network + community contributions
Western Europe
Rooftop
Very well mapped, especially Germany, France, UK
Japan
Rooftop
Comprehensive building-level data
Australia / NZ
Rooftop
Good address data from government imports
Eastern Europe
Street-level
Good road coverage, address data improving
Latin America
Street to neighbourhood
Varies widely by city; major cities are good
Africa
Neighbourhood to city
Rapidly improving, especially urban areas
Central Asia
City-level
Limited address data in rural areas
Comparison with other geocoding tools
Feature
SimpleMapLab
Google Geocoding
Mapbox
Cost
Free
$5/1000 requests
$5/1000 requests
Sign-up required
No
Yes (API key)
Yes (API key)
Batch geocoding
Yes (25/session)
API only
API only
Reverse geocoding
Yes (click map)
API only
API only
Structured components
Yes
Yes
Yes
Map visualization
Yes (built-in)
Separate API
Separate API
CSV export
Yes
No
No
Rate limit
1 req/sec (batch)
50 req/sec
600 req/min
Data source
OpenStreetMap
Google proprietary
Mapbox + OSM
Methodology
Forward geocoding uses Nominatim, an open-source geocoding engine that indexes OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. When you type an address, Nominatim searches its PostgreSQL/PostGIS database of indexed place names, addresses, and administrative boundaries. It ranks results by match quality and returns the best candidate with structured address components and coordinates.
Reverse geocoding works by finding the nearest indexed address point to the given coordinates. Nominatim uses spatial indexes to quickly locate candidates, then selects the most appropriate result considering the zoom level (street-level vs. city-level granularity).
Autocomplete suggestions come from Photon, an ElasticSearch-based geocoder that provides typo-tolerant search. Photon indexes the same OSM data as Nominatim but uses a different search engine optimized for partial matching and real-time suggestions.
All coordinates use the WGS84 datum (EPSG:4326), the reference system used by GPS satellites. Latitude ranges from -90 (South Pole) to +90 (North Pole). Longitude ranges from -180 to +180, with 0 at the Greenwich meridian.
Glossary
GeocodingConverting a text address or place name into geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude).
Reverse geocodingConverting geographic coordinates into a human-readable address.
NominatimAn open-source geocoding engine that uses OpenStreetMap data. Powers forward and reverse geocoding on this tool.
PhotonA geocoding search engine built on ElasticSearch that provides typo-tolerant autocomplete from OpenStreetMap data.
WGS84World Geodetic System 1984 — the coordinate reference system used by GPS, Google Maps, and this tool.
Rooftop accuracyGeocoding that resolves to the specific building or address point, as opposed to street centerline or neighborhood centroid.
Decimal degrees (DD)Coordinate format using decimal numbers (e.g., 40.748817, -73.985428). Standard for digital mapping.
DMSDegrees-minutes-seconds format (e.g., 40°44′55.7″N). Traditional format used in navigation and surveying.
Address parsingBreaking a full address string into structured components (street, city, state, ZIP, country).
Batch geocodingProcessing multiple addresses in sequence, typically for data enrichment or analysis workflows.
Related tools and resources
For finding just the latitude and longitude with additional formats (geohash, DMM, antipode), use the Latitude & Longitude Finder. It focuses on coordinate representation rather than address parsing.
To look up which US county contains an address, the Address to County Lookup tool identifies the FIPS county using ray-casting point-in-polygon detection against Census boundary data.
Address data: OpenStreetMap — crowdsourced by 10M+ contributors worldwide
Coordinate system: WGS84 (EPSG:4326) — same as GPS and Google Maps
Frequently asked questions
Geocoding converts a text address into coordinates (lat/lng). Reverse geocoding converts coordinates into a text address. This tool does both — type an address to forward geocode, or click the map to reverse geocode.
Coordinates are returned to 6 decimal places, which represents ~0.11 meter precision. However, the actual accuracy depends on how well the address is mapped in OpenStreetMap. US addresses typically resolve to rooftop level. Rural or new addresses may resolve to street or neighborhood centroids.
Yes. The geocoder uses OpenStreetMap data which covers the entire world. You can geocode addresses in any country, in any language that OpenStreetMap supports. The structured address components adapt to local formats (e.g., prefecture/city for Japan, province/commune for France).
The batch geocoder processes one address per second to respect Nominatim's usage policy. A batch of 25 addresses takes about 25-30 seconds. For higher throughput, you can run your own Nominatim instance or use commercial geocoding APIs.
The tool returns coordinates in two formats: decimal degrees (e.g., 40.748817, -73.985428) and degrees-minutes-seconds or DMS (e.g., 40°44'55.7"N, 73°59'7.5"W). Both formats use the WGS84 datum, the same system used by GPS devices, Google Maps, and all modern mapping tools.
Yes. The geocoder accepts any level of specificity: a full street address, just a city name, a ZIP code, a landmark name (like "Eiffel Tower"), or even a country. Less specific inputs return the centroid of the matched area.
Reverse geocoding returns structured components including: street number, street name, neighbourhood/suburb, city/town/village, county/district, state/province, postal code, country, and country code. Not all components are available for every location — rural areas may only return county and state.
The Lat/Lng Finder focuses on coordinate formats (DD, DMS, DMM, geohash) and geographic context (hemisphere, equator distance, antipode). This geocoder tool focuses on address parsing — breaking locations into structured street, city, state, ZIP, and country components. The geocoder also supports batch processing.
In batch mode, click "Export CSV" to download all results as a CSV file with columns for street, city, county, state, ZIP, country, latitude, and longitude. In single mode, use the copy buttons to copy individual components or the full formatted address.
This tool uses Nominatim for geocoding and OpenStreetMap for map data. Nominatim is a free, open-source geocoding engine maintained by the OpenStreetMap Foundation. For autocomplete suggestions, the tool uses Photon, which provides typo-tolerant search powered by the same OpenStreetMap data.
Yes, completely free with no sign-up required. The tool runs in your browser and uses free public APIs (Nominatim and OpenFreeMap). There are no API keys, no rate limits beyond the 1 request/second batch policy, and no usage caps.
WGS84 (World Geodetic System 1984) is the reference coordinate system used by GPS satellites. It defines the shape of the Earth as an oblate spheroid and provides the framework for expressing latitude and longitude. Virtually all modern mapping tools — Google Maps, Apple Maps, OpenStreetMap — use WGS84.
Yes. Click anywhere on the map and the tool instantly reverse geocodes that point, returning the nearest address with all structured components. The map zooms in and places a green marker at the clicked location.
OpenStreetMap administrative boundaries sometimes differ from colloquial usage. For example, a point in an unincorporated area may return the county name instead of the nearest city. The "full formatted address" field shows the complete hierarchy so you can see exactly how the location was classified.