Geocode addresses
Address text geocoded to a location with the geocoding service.
What is address geocoding?
Address geocoding, also known as forward geocoding, is the process of converting text for an address to a complete address with a location. For example, you can convert 1 Bridge St, Sydney, Australia
to 1 Bridge St, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000
.
You can use address search to:
- Geocode address text to a complete address.
- Find the location of an address.
- Provide a list of address candidates for an incomplete address.
How address geocoding works
You can geocode an address by making an HTTPS request to the geocoding service find
operation or by using client APIs. Specify the address, output data fields, and optionally, additional parameters to refine the search.
The more complete you can make the input address, the more likely the geocoding service will find an exact match. For example, "1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20500".
To refine the search, you can provide additional parameters such as the location, search extent, country code, city, and neighborhood.
The geocoding service parses the address and uses all of the parameters to return a set of address candidates. Each candidate contains a full address, location, attributes, and a score of how well it matched. By default the address, score, and location are returned, but to return all of the data fields available, you can set the outFields parameter to *.
URL request
Required parameters
Name | Description | Examples |
---|---|---|
f | The format of the data returned. | f=json f=pjson |
token | An API key or OAuth 2.0 access token. Learn how to get an access token in Security and authentication. | token=< token=< |
Key parameters
Name | Description | Examples |
---|---|---|
address | The address or place name. Different formats are supported. | address=1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW,DC address=Washington,DC address=81301 address=-117.155579,32.703761 |
out | The list of data fields to return. | outFields=PlaceName,Addr_type, outFields=* (return all fields) |
Additional parameters: Refine the search by using parameters such as location
, search
, neighborhood
, city
, and country
. Use lang
to return results in a specific language.
Storage parameter
If you need to store or persist the geocoding service results in any way, you are required to use the for
parameter.
Name | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
for | Specifies whether the results of the operation will be persisted. | for |
Code examples
Geocode an address
This example illustrates how to geocode address text. Most APIs provide a LocatorTask to access the service.
Steps
Reference the geocoding service.
Set the address.
Set the token to your API key.
The response is a set of address candidates with a full address, location, and score.
Address text geocoded to a location.
APIs
REST API
Tutorials

Search for an address
Convert an address or place to a location with the geocoding service.

Reverse geocode
Get an address, business, or place from coordinates with the geocoding service.

Find place addresses
Find an address, business, or place with the geocoding service.

Display your location
Find and track your device location on a map.
Services
Geocoding service
Search for an address, reverse geocode, and batch geocode.
API support
Geocoding | Reverse Geocoding | Batch Geocoding | Place/POI Search | Autosuggest | UI Component | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript | ||||||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for .NET | 1 | |||||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Kotlin | 1 | |||||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Swift | 1 | |||||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Java | 1 | |||||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Qt | 1 | |||||
ArcGIS API for Python | ||||||
ArcGIS REST JS | ||||||
Esri Leaflet | 2 | |||||
MapLibre GL JS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
OpenLayers | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
- 1. No runtime API. Access via HTTP request.
- 2. Access via ArcGIS REST JS.
Tools
Developer dashboard
Manage API keys, service usage, and data with the ArcGIS Developers website.
ArcGIS Online
Create, manage, and share content and data with cloud-based GIS tools.
Map Viewer
Create, explore, and share web maps for 2D applications.
Scene Viewer
Create, explore, and share web scenes for 3D applications.
ArcGIS Pro
Explore, visualize, and analyze both 2D and 3D data with desktop GIS tools.