The USC Geocoder can be used from desktop and/or web applications via the Geocoding Web Service interfaces listed below. The only required information is the API key, which is available in your account profile page. You may want to read the technical details and the known bugs.

API Version - 2.92

Available Web Services

API #1 - .Net Geocode Web Service

• API that can be used from scripts, http, and SOAP compatible clients

• API URL

  https://webgis.usc.edu/Services/Geocode/WebService/GeocoderService_V02_92.asmx

API #2 - HTTP Geocode Web Service (Non-parsed)

• API for non-parsed address data that can be used from scripts and http

• API URL

  https://webgis.usc.edu/Services/Geocode/WebService/GeocoderWebServiceHttpNonParsed_V02_92.aspx?

  API Input Fields

  Parameter	Required	Description	Example	Possible Value
  apiKey	true	Click here for your API key	api-key-value	some text
  version	true	api version	2.92	2.92
  streetAddress	false	non-parsed street address value	3620 North Vermont Ave W.	some text
  city	false	city value	Beverly Hills	some text
  state	false	state value	CA	some text
  zip	false	zip code value	90089	some text
  verbose	false	output full details	true	true, false
  format	false	output format	csv	csv, tsv, xml
  notStore	false	indicates if the transaction details should not be historically stored in your account	true	true, false

  API Output Fields and Index (for non-XML output)

  Position	Field	Required	Description	Possible Values
  0	Transaction Id	true	Query Id	Unique Id
  1	API Version	true	Vesion of the API used	2.92
  2	Query Status Code	true	Result code	See list
  3	Latitude	true	Decimal
  4	Longitude	true	Decimal
  5	Match Score	true	Match percentage between input data and reference feature
  6	Match Type	true	Geocode match type	See list
  7	Matching Geography Type	true	Geographic level of the output	See list
  8	Interpolation Type	true	Interpolation method used	See list
  9	Interpolation Sub-Type	true	Interpolation sub-method used	See list
  10	Matched Location Type	true	Type of input data identified	See list
  11	Feature Matching Result Type	true	Result of the feature matching algorithm	See list
  12	Time Taken	true	Processing time	Milliseconds
  13	Census 2000 Block	false	Census 2000 block value for the output point
  14	Census 2000 Block Group	false	Census 2000 block group value for the output point
  15	Census 2000 Tract	false	Census 2000 tract value for the output point
  16	Census 2000 County Fips	false	Census 2000 county fips value for the output point
  17	Census 2000 State Fips	false	Census 2000 state fips value for the output point
  42	MNumber	false	Street number of the address that matched
  43	MNumberFractional	false	Street number fractional of the address that matched
  44	MPreDirectional	false	Street predirectional of the address that matched
  45	MPreQualifier	false	Street prequalifier of the address that matched
  46	MName	false	Street name of the address that matched
  47	MPostQualifier	false	Street postqualifier of the address that matched
  48	MSuffix	false	Street suffix of the address that matched
  49	MPostDirectional	false	Street postdirectional of the address that matched
  50	MSuiteType	false	Suite type of the address that matched
  51	MSuiteNumber	false	Suite number of the address that matched
  52	MPostOfficeBoxType	false	Post office box type of the address that matched
  53	MPostOfficeBoxNumber	false	Post office box number of the address that matched
  54	MCity	false	City of the address that matched
  55	MConsolidatedCity	false	Consolidated city of the address that matched
  56	MMinorCivilDivision	false	Minor civil division of the address that matched
  57	MCountySubRegion	false	County sub region of the address that matched
  58	MCounty	false	County of the address that matched
  59	MState	false	State of the address that matched
  60	MZip	false	Zip of the address that matched
  61	MZipPlus1	false	Zip+1 of the address that matched
  62	MZipPlus2	false	Zip+2 of the address that matched
  63	MZipPlus3	false	Zip+3 of the address that matched
  64	MZipPlus4	false	Zip+4 of the address that matched
  65	MZipPlus5	false	Zip+5 of the address that matched
  66	PNumber	false	Street number of the parsed address
  67	PNumberFractional	false	Street number fractional of the parsed address
  68	PPreDirectional	false	Street predirectional of the parsed address
  69	PPreQualifier	false	Street prequalifier of the parsed address
  70	PName	false	Street name of the parsed address
  71	PPostQualifier	false	Street postqualifier of the parsed address
  72	PSuffix	false	Street suffix of the parsed address
  73	PPostDirectional	false	Street postdirectional of the parsed address
  74	PSuiteType	false	Suite type of the parsed address
  75	PSuiteNumber	false	Suite number of the parsed address
  76	PPostOfficeBoxType	false	Post office box type of the parsed address
  77	PPostOfficeBoxNumber	false	Post office box number of the parsed address
  78	PCity	false	City of the parsed address
  79	PConsolidatedCity	false	Consolidated city of the parsed address
  80	PMinorCivilDivision	false	Minor civil division of the parsed address
  81	PCountySubRegion	false	County sub region of the parsed address
  82	PCounty	false	County of the parsed address
  83	PState	false	State of the parsed address
  84	PZip	false	Zip of the parsed address
  85	PZipPlus1	false	Zip+1 of the parsed address
  86	PZipPlus2	false	Zip+2 of the parsed address
  87	PZipPlus3	false	Zip+3 of the parsed address
  88	PZipPlus4	false	Zip+4 of the parsed address
  89	PZipPlus5	false	Zip+5 of the parsed address
  90	FNumber	false	Street number of the matched reference feature
  91	FNumberFractional	false	Street number fractional of the matched reference feature
  92	FPreDirectional	false	Street predirectional of the matched reference feature
  93	FPreQualifier	false	Street prequalifier of the matched reference feature
  94	FName	false	Street name of the matched reference feature
  95	FPostQualifier	false	Street postqualifier of the matched reference feature
  96	FSuffix	false	Street suffix of the matched reference feature
  97	FPostDirectional	false	Street postdirectional of the matched reference feature
  98	FSuiteType	false	Suite type of the matched reference feature
  99	FSuiteNumber	false	Suite number of the matched reference feature
  100	FPostOfficeBoxType	false	Post office box type of the matched reference feature
  101	FPostOfficeBoxNumber	false	Post office box number of the matched reference feature
  102	FCity	false	City of the matched reference feature
  103	FConsolidatedCity	false	Consolidated city of the matched reference feature
  104	FMinorCivilDivision	false	Minor civil division of the matched reference feature
  105	FCountySubRegion	false	County sub region of the matched reference feature
  106	FCounty	false	County of the matched reference feature
  107	FState	false	State of the matched reference feature
  108	FZip	false	Zip of the matched reference feature
  109	FZipPlus1	false	Zip+1 of the matched reference feature
  110	FZipPlus2	false	Zip+2 of the matched reference feature
  111	FZipPlus3	false	Zip+3 of the matched reference feature
  112	FZipPlus4	false	Zip+4 of the matched reference feature
  113	FZipPlus5	false	Zip+5 of the matched reference feature
  114	FArea	false	Area of the matched feature
  115	FAreaType	false	Area metric of the matched feature
  116	FGeometry	false	Geometry of the matched feature
  117	FSource	false	Source of the matched feature
  118	FVintage	false	Vintage of the matched feature
  119	FPrimaryIdField	false	Name of the primary Id field of the matched feature
  120	FPrimaryIdValue	false	Value of the primary Id field of the matched feature
  121	FSecondaryIdField	false	Name of the secondary Id field of the matched feature
  122	FSecondaryIdValue	false	Value of the secondary Id field of the matched feature

  
  Notes
  - M____: The attribute value of your input address that used in finding a reference feature
  - P____: The equivalent parsed attribute value of your input address
  - F____: The attribute value of the matched reference feature used for interpolation
  

• API Examples

  Example 1 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (CSV)
  
  Example 2 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML)
  
  Example 3 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (CSV, Verbose)
  
  Example 4 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (TSV, Verbose)
  
  Example 5 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose)
  
  Example 6 - PO Box 221, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose)
  
  Example 7 - PO Box 221 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (CSV, Verbose)
  
  

API #3 - HTTP Geocode Web Service (Non-parsed) with Advanced Options

• API for non-parsed address data that can be used from scripts and http that allows advanced options to be specified

• API URL

  https://webgis.usc.edu/Services/Geocode/WebService/GeocoderWebServiceHttpNonParsedAdvanced_V02_92.aspx?

  API Input Fields

  This API's input field set includes all of the input and output parameters from API #2 above with the additions in the following table. Each of these are described in the techincal details. The default values used here are automatically used in API #2 above.

  Parameter	Required	Description	Values	Default value
  r	false	whether or not to use attribute relaxation	true, false	true
  ratts	false	the attributes allowed to be relaxed; only applies if shouldUseRelaxation is true	comma separated list from the following options: pre, suffix, post, city, zip	pre,suffix,post,city,zip
  sub	false	whether or not to use substring matching	true, false	true
  sou	false	whether or not to use soundex	true, false	true
  souatts	false	the attributes allowed to be soundex'ed; only applies if shouldUseSoundex is true	comma separated list from the following options: name, city	name,city
  h	false	which feature matching hierarchy to use	uncertaintyBased, u, featureMatchingHierarchy, f,	featureMatchingHierarchy
  refs	false	which reference data sources to use	all - or one or more of the following - parcelCentroids, parcelGeometries, tiger2008, zipPlus4, census2008Places, census2000Places, census2008ConsolidatedCities, census2000ConsolidatedCities, census2000MCDs, census2008ZCTAs, census2000ZCTAs, census2008CountySubRegions, census2000CountySubRegions, census2008Counties, census2000Counties, census2008States	all

  API Output Fields and Index (for non-XML output)

  The output fields for this API are the same as API #2 above

• API Examples

  Example 1 - 9355 NE Burton Rd, Wrong City, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, All options false)
  - will fail to match a parcel because city is wrong
  
  Example 2 - 9355 NE Burton Rd, Wrong City, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Attribute Relxation on pre,suffix,city)
  - will succeed in matching a parcel even though city is wrong because the city attribute will be relaxed
  
  Example 3 - 9355 Berrton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, All options false)
  - will fail to match a parcel because the street name is wrong
  
  Example 4 - 9355 Berrton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Soundex on street name)
  - will succeed in matching a parcel even though the street name is wrong because soundex is being used on the street name
  
  Example 5 - 9355 Berton Way, Bevirrly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, All options false)
  - will fail to match a parcel because the city name is wrong
  
  Example 6 - 9355 Berton Way, Bevirrly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Soundex on city)
  - will succeed in matching a parcel even though the city is wrong because soundex is being used on the city
  
  Example 7 - PO Box 123, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Feature matching hierarchy)
  - will match to ZIP 90210 (ZIP comes before city in the feature matching hierarchy)
  
  Example 8 - PO Box 123, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Uncertainty hierarchy)
  - will match to city Beverly Hills (smaller area = less geographic uncertainty = more accurate geocode)