Zoom levels and scale
A zoom level or scale is a number that defines how large or small the contents of a map appear in a map view.
- Scale is a ratio between measurements on a map view and measurements in the real-world. When a map is displayed at a scale of 1:100 (or simply
100.0
), 1cm on the display represents 1m (100cm) in the real world. A scale of100,000.0
means that 1cm on the map display represents 1km (100,000cm) in the real world, and so on. - Zoom level is a number between 0 (global view) and 23 (very detailed view) and is used as a shorthand for predetermined scale values, but comes with some limitations.
Most web mapping APIs support zoom levels as a convenience. Zoom levels are only typically used for building applications that display data in Web Mercator projection. Scales are used to display data in any projection.
Conversion tool
Use this interactive tool to translate zoom levels to map scales:
Zoom level is predicated on a 256x256 pixel tile. Because Mapbox image tiles are 512x512 pixels, Mapbox zoom levels are 1 less than those of other APIs. For example: zoom level 12 in the Mapbox API is equivalent to zoom level 13 in other APIs such as the ArcGIS JavaScript API or Leaflet.
This table covers each distinct zoom level and the map scale it translates to. Usage suggestions depend on the dimensions of the map view in question but are reasonable guides for a map in a typical web page.
Zoom level | Scale | Usage suggestion |
---|---|---|
0 | 591657527.591555 | Global |
1 | 295828763.795777 | |
2 | 147914381.897889 | Subcontinent |
3 | 73957190.948944 | |
4 | 36978595.474472 | |
5 | 18489297.737236 | Large country |
6 | 9244648.868618 | |
7 | 4622324.434309 | Small country/US state |
8 | 2311162.217155 | |
9 | 1155581.108577 | Large metropolitan area |
10 | 577790.554289 | |
11 | 288895.277144 | City |
12 | 144447.638572 | Town |
13 | 72223.819286 | Village |
14 | 36111.909643 | |
15 | 18055.954822 | Small road |
16 | 9027.977411 | Street |
17 | 4513.988705 | Street block |
18 | 2256.994353 | Address |
19 | 1128.497176 | Street intersection |
20 | 564.248588 | |
21 | 282.124294 | |
22 | 141.062147 | |
23 | 70.5310735 |
To learn more, visit the Zoom levels OpenStreetMap page. .