Geocoding Addresses in ArcGIS Online
Geocoding is a way of assigning data which contains some type of location information, such as coordinates or an address to a real-world location. Geocoding can be useful for displaying places on a map or for use in some type of spatial analysis. This guide will provide a tutorial on how to geocode addresses from a CSV file using ArcGIS Online. As a student, faculty, or staff member at Michigan Tech, you have access to ArcGIS Online and the ability to geocode datasets.
Note: Geocoding does consume ArcGIS Online Service credits. Each member of MTU's ArcGIS Online Portal are assigned a limited number of service credits. The amount of service credits used per geocoding task will depend on the amount of records being geocoded and will be listed during the geocoding process. For more information about service credits, see Understanding Credits.
To geocode a CSV in ArcGIS Online, it must contain some type of location fields in the first row. The most common types of fields you would geocode are Address, City, State, and Zip or latitude and longitude. The following location fields are supported:
- Latitude, Longitude
- Lat, Long
- Longitude83, Latitude83
- Longdecdeg, Latdecdeg
- Long_dd, Latdd
- Lng
- Y, X
- Ycenter, Xcenter
- Xcenter, Ycenter
- Point-y, Point-x
- Point-x, Point-y
- MGRS
- USNG
- Address
- City
- State
- ZIP
In this tutorial I will show how to geocode a csv file of popular attractions in the Houghton area. The csv file will contain fields for the Name of the attraction and the Address. The records will be geocoded in ArcGIS Online using the Address field.
Steps to geocoding a CSV file in ArcGIS Online:
1. Sign in to your MTU ArcGIS Online account using your Michigan Tech SSO login.
2. Click on the Content tab and click the New item button.
3. The New item window will popup and click the Your device button under Drag and drop your file or choose an option. Select the .csv file from your computer that you want to geocode.
4. Under How would you like to add this file? Select the option to create a hosted feature layer or table and click the Next button.
5. Under the Fields section you have the option to select the fields you would like to include in the geocoded Feature Layer. Select or deselect any desired fields and click Next.
6. Under location settings specify the type of location information the file contains. In this case I am using Addresses or place names.
7. Under location fields select if your location information is contained with one field or multiple fields. In this example, all of my address information is contained in one field named 'Address' but you could also have separate fields for City, State, and Zip.
8. Select the corresponding field for your Address or place information below. In this example the field corresponding to the location information in the csv file is named Address.
9. Below you will see the number of credits the geocoding task is estimated to consume and how many you have remaining on your account. Please note that these credits are for your individual account, not the entire University.
10. Fill out a Title, Tags, and Description for your new layer and finish the geocoding process. When the process has finished, a window may asking you if you want to Review Locations and how many locations were successfully geocoded. There are times where the geocoder may not be able to correctly find and geocode an address. Try and make sure you provide as much information about the items location as possible such as a street number (if needed), a city, state, and zip code. If you are geocoding addresses outside of the United States, you may want to include a Country name and any other appropriate information.
11. Your geocoded layer should now be available to view and use in ArcGIS Online.
