• Background Image

    News & Updates

    census geographies

March 14, 2020

American FactFinder Address Lookup Vs. USgeocoder Address Lookup

American FactFinder Address Lookup Alternative – USgeocoder Address Lookup

Easier to use, more up-to-date, better coverage

US Census American FactFinder (AFF) will be taken offline on March 31, 2020. Are you looking for an American FactFinder address lookup alternative for geographic information? Try USgeocoder’s live demo: https://usgeocoder.com/api_live_demo.

USgeocoder live demo provides most geographic information that American FactFinder Address Lookup provides. It’s FREE to use! More important, it provides more up-to-date congressional and state legislative district information, and covers more addresses than American FactFinder does!

As with American FactFinder, USgeocoder Live demo performs address lookups however; users of both platforms tell us, USgeocoder is easier to use! Click here to learn more about how to use USgeocoder Live Demo as an American FactFinder alternative to search US Census geographies by address lookup.

In this article, you will learn the similarities and differences between the results produced by American FactFinder address lookup and USgeocoder address lookup.

American FactFinder Address Lookup Results Vs. USgeocoder Address Lookup Results

The US Census is one of the raw data sources USgeocoder uses. USgeocoder stores US Census data on its own cloud servers and updates it when the US Census issues a new release.

USgeocoder offers the following information formerly found via American FactFinder:

  1. County
  2. County Subdivision
  3. Municipality (Incorporated City)
  4. Census Block, Block Group, Tract
  5. MSA (Metro/Micro Statistical Area)
  6. Urban Area
  7. Congressional District
  8. State Legislative District (State Upper and Lower House Districts)
  9. Voting District
  10. School District
  11. 5 digit zip code

USgeocoder tailors its data offerings to customers’ needs. Some information is less in demand than the others. As such, the following information was returned on American FactFinder though not yet on USgeocoder:

  1. Region
  2. Division
  3. Principal City (or part) within State within Metro/Micro Statistical Area
  4. Metro Division Within Metro Statistical Area
  5. CSA
  6. MSA/CMSA
  7. PMSA within CMSA
  8. Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA)
  9. Economic Place

As one of the few OEM geocoders in the US, USgeocoder expertise is in location lookup and district matching utilizing its core geocoding technology. In addition to US census data, USgeocoder also integrates other data sources such as US Postal System (USPS) data, state and local boundary data, and tax rate data into its database. By utilizing this geocoding core technology, USgeocoder has extended its offerings beyond geographies. The following is information found on the USgeocoder website but not on American FactFinder:

  1. Geocodes (Latitude and longitude)
  2. Standardized Address per USPS or US Census standards
  3. Zip5+4 (Zip9)
  4. Carrier Route
  5. Elected Officials and their contact information, including National Senator, House of Representatives, State Executives (Governor, Lt. Governor, SOS, Treasurer, AG), State Senator and State House of Representatives.
  6. Sales and Use Tax Rate Information

The following are images showing the dataset provided by the current American FactFinder and USgeocoder as of March 7, 2020.

American FactFinder: https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t#

Using USgeocoder as an alternative for American FactFinder

Following is image that shows the results for the same address on USgeocoder live demo: https://usgeocoder.com/api_live_demo

Using USgeocoder as American FactFinder Alternative

If USgeocoder live demo provides all the information you are looking for, it is definitely a great alternative tool to replace American FactFinder. For the more, USgeocoder provides more up-to-date information and more coverage than American FactFinder does.

USgeocoder provides more up-to-date congressional and state legislative district data than American FactFinder.

With American FactFinder as of March 7, 2020, the most recent congressional district is the 115th Congress. And the state legislative districts are for 2016.

Redistricting happens on a regular basis throughout the US. Here are the changes for congressional districts and state legislative districts since 2016.

116th Congress started on January 3, 2019. Congressional redistricting took place in Pennsylvania in 2018 and the new boundaries were used for the 116th Congress. See details on http://blog.usgeocoder.com/116th-congressional-district/

As a result, Pennsylvania has different congressional district boundaries than what it had for the 115th Congress. For example:

314 STATE ST, CLAIRTON, PA 15025
Old 115th Congressional District: 14
New 116th congressional District: 18

9027 TORRESDALE AVE, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19136
Old 115th Congressional District: 2
New 116th congressional District: 1

Likewise, state house redistricting took place in Virginia in 2019 and the new state house boundary has been in use since Jan 3, 2020. See details at http://blog.usgeocoder.com/new-virginia-state-lower-house-districts-using-zip-code-address/

Here are a couple of examples of the state house district changes for Virginia addresses:

11521 Coalboro Rd, Chesterfield, VA 23838
Old State Lower House District: 66
New State Lower House District: 63

9536 Dawnshire Rd, Richmond, VA 23237, USA
Old State Lower House District: 62
New State Lower House District: 70

USgeocoder covers more addresses than American FactFinder

Some 5-10% of the US addresses are not covered in the census database but in the US Postal System (USPS) database. USPS updates its database on a monthly basis. Census normally updates on a yearly basis. This means the US Census database is normally one year behind adding new addresses. Because USgeocoder also works with USPS data as well as state and local government agencies, it covers more addresses than US Census does.

For example: 3001 N AIRFIELD DR, Dallas, TX 75261

On American FactFinder, it’s showing “FactFinder was not able to locate the address you entered”.

USgeocoder Covers more addresses than American FactFinder

When users enter the same address on USgeocoder Live demo ( https://usgeocoder.com/api_live_demo), the address is not only located but returned with relevant supporting information.

In addition, USgeocoder also provides data for PO Box, Rural route, General Delivery services. These address types cannot form the basis of a search inquiry on American FactFinder.

For those who want to save time on searching or need to auto-populate geographic information in their apps…

The USgeocoder Live demo can lookup one address at a time at no charge. Otherwise, if you have a list of addresses or need to integrate lookups into an application, consider the USgeocoder fee-based batch processing and API services.

GIS Address Batch Process service

All you need to do is to provide your address file with street address and zip code information to USgeocoder in csv, excel or text format. USgeocoder will batch process your address file and send you the result file in its original format with the requested information appended to each address.

USgeocoder can also produce the same district information using latitude and longitude through batch processing.

Lead-time depends on the number of records and the quality of the addresses. The normal turn-around time for a 100,000 addresses record file is 1-2 business days.

For more information on how address batch processing works, please visit: https://usgeocoder.com/offer_data_processing

API Services

USgeocoder API auto-populates geographies information for any online application.

USgeocoder API users can access the USgeocoder engine using either a street address and its 5 digit zip cod , or geocodes (latitude and longitude) to obtain desired information for their online applications in real time.

For more information on how API works, please visit: https://usgeocoder.com/api_overview.

USgeocoder provides 100% privacy guaranteed.

USgeocoder is HIPAA, FERPA, RFPA, BSA, PATRIOT ACT, GDPR and all State’s Privacy Acts compliant. It was built from the ground up to make it impossible to scrape clients’ data. Clients’ data remain 100% confidential.

To learn more about USgeocoder capabilities, please visit: https://usgeocoder.com/about_us.

 

March 14, 2020

American FactFinder Address Lookup Alternative for Census Geographic Information

Using USgeocoder as an American FactFinder Address Lookup Alternative for Geographic Information

A simpler and easier way to search geographies by address lookup

American FactFinder, https://factfinder.census.gov/, a service of the US Census Bureau, will be discontinued as of March 31, 2020. Are you looking for an American FactFinder Address Lookup Alternative? USgeocoder continues to receive increasing inquiries from American FactFinder users seeking a viable and enhanced alternative solution.

The majority of FactFinder users used its “Advanced Search” to implement address lookups that return geographic information including county, municipality, congressional district, state legislative districts, census tract, and school districts.

American FactFinder offered lookup by list, lookup by name, lookup by address, and lookup by map options. Most data previously released on American FactFinder is now being released on U.S. Census Bureau’s new dissemination platform, data.census.gov.

However, on this new platform, “lookup by address” and “lookup by map” options are not available. Some users also inform USgeocoder that the new US Census platform is hard to use and are having difficulty finding the information they want.

USgeocoder Live demo offers geographic information with map display by address lookup

Users of USgeocoder can obtain the majority of the geographic information provided by American FactFinder by using the USgeocoder Live demo. https://usgeocoder.com/api_live_demo. (Learn more about American FactFinder Results vs. USgeocoder results.)

USgeocoder is a GIS (Geographic Information System) platform providing location lookup and district matching services. The USgeocoder core competency is to locate any physical address, identify its latitude and longitude, and then query continually updated district maps to deliver political districts from federal to local. Such queries return related information including elected officials, census geographies, and sales and use tax rates.

As with American FactFinder, USgeocoder Live demo performs address lookups however; users of both platforms tell us, USgeocoder is easier to use!

For example, instead of entering street address, city, state and zip code in FactFnder, USgeocoder users need only enter the street address and the zip 5 of interest. See this now in the USgeocoder Live demo: https://usgeocoder.com/api_live_demo.

Using USgeocoder for American FactFinder Address Lookup

After you press the “Free Lookup” button, a new window opens with the information about the input address on the left and a map on the right. The location of the input address is marked on the map.

USgeocoder Live Demo for American FactFinder

You will see on the left under the “About This Address” tab, the information grouped in 6 categories:

  1. Standardized Address
  2. Geolocation Codes
  3. Zip Codes & Mail Delivery
  4. District & Elected Officials
  5. Census Geography
  6. Sales and Use Tax Rates

Click on each category to expand the category and see related information for the address that was input. The information you would get from American FactFinder is in the “District & Elected Officials” and “Census Geography” groups. So if this is the information you need, USgeocoder live demo is a great American FactFinder Address Lookup Alternative for you!

When you click on the “Map Layer & Legend” tab, you will see the options to turn on and turn off the base map, political district, and census geographic layers:

  1. Transportation Network
  2. Water Features
  3. Land Marks
  4. State
  5. County
  6. Un-/Incorporated
  7. Tribal Lands
  8. Federal Public Lands
  9. Military Installations
  10. 116th Congressional District
  11. 115th Congressional District
  12. State Upper House 2020
  13. State Lower House 2020
  14. State Upper House 2019
  15. State Lower House 2019
  16. County Subdivision
  17. Voting Precinct
  18. School Disricts
  19. Census Block
  20. Census 2000 Block
  21. Block Group
  22. Census Tract
  23. MSA
  24. Urban Area

USgeocoder Live Demo for American FactFinder Map Lookup

Lookup American FactFinder geographic information for FREE using the USgeocoder Live Demo!

American FactFinder users are asking “What’s the cost of using USgeocoder Live Demo?”

The answer is “Free!”

The USgeocoder Live demo is a place where users can discover the data types and information capabilities USgeocoder provides. The company’s existing clients have all used this demo to test USgeocoder accuracy before contacting a representative.

USgeocoder Live demo is a free lookup tool to lookup one address at a time. So if you need an online tool to search geographies for specific addresses, USgeocoder live demo works really well as an American FactFinder Address Lookup Alternative.

However if you have a large number of addresses and would like to save time, USgeocoder can batch process the file for you for a fee.

If you are looking for a service like American FactFinder API to integrate the data in your application, the USgeocoder API service can seamlessly replace it: https://usgeocoder.com/api_overview. Every piece of information shown in the live demo can be handled via batch processing and API.

USgeocoder Provides 100% Privacy Guaranteed.

USgeocoder is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) & RFPA (Right to Financial Privacy Act) compliant. USgeocoder does not scrape, resell, market, share or store any client data. They guarantee client proprietary data remains 100% confidential

For more information on how batch processing and USgeocoder API, call 1-888-938-6732, chat with a USgeocoder team member via live chat, or reach out using this page: https://usgeocoder.com/contact_us. USgeocoder will reply within 24 hours.

To learn more about the similarities and differences between American FactFinder and USgeocoder Address lookup results, please visit: http://blog.usgeocoder.com/american-factfinder-address-lookup-alternative-usgeocoder/.