Guides
for everything Geocodio
Guides
Accuracy Types & Scores
Guides
for everything Geocodio
Accuracy Types & Scores
For every result, Geocodio will give you an accuracy type and an accuracy score. We recommend using a combination of the accuracy score and accuracy type to evaluate and filter the returned results.
How accurate is Geocodio, really?
Given a real-world sample list evenly distributed across the US — a list of Starbucks locations downloaded from AllThePlaces —you can expect 80% of results to be rooftop, 15% to be range interpolated, nearest_rooftop or point, and 5% to be other accuracy types.
In our latest test, of rooftop results, 75% came back building_centroid, 1% parcel_centroid, and 6% unit-level. 88% came back with an accuracy score of 1, 94% of results came back with >0.9, and 99% >0.7.
Accuracy types
Accuracy types for forward geocoding include:
rooftop: on the exact parcel
point: generally, in front of the parcel on the street
range_interpolation: generally, in front of the parcel on the street
nearest_rooftop_match: the nearest rooftop point if the exact point is unavailable
intersection: An intersection between two streets
street_center: A central point on the street
place: zip code or city centroid
county: county centroid
state: state centroid
For reverse geocoding, the following accuracy types may be found as well:
nearest_street: Nearest match for a specific street with estimated street number
nearest_place: Closest city/town/place
For UK addresses, the same accuracy types apply. Great Britain data is sourced directly from Royal Mail and the Ordnance Survey.
In Northern Ireland, results are currently capped at postcode-level accuracy rather than rooftop.
For Australian and New Zealand addresses, Geocodio returns rooftop, nearest_rooftop_match, street_center, and place results. Geocodio doesn’t use range interpolation in either country, so you won’t get an estimated point between two known house numbers. Australian data is sourced from G-NAF and state and council address files. New Zealand data is sourced from Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), with postcodes from NZ Post.
Match types
All geocoding results include a match type field that indicates the type of coordinate match. This field provides additional granularity beyond accuracy type and can help you understand the placement of the returned coordinates.
In the US, approximately 57% of rooftop results will come back with building_centroid-level match, 3% parcel_centroid, and 40% null.
| building_centroid | Coordinates derived from a building footprint centroid. Pairs with rooftop and nearest_rooftop_match accuracy types |
| parcel_centroid | Coordinates derived from a property parcel centroid. Pairs with rooftop and nearest_rooftop_match accuracy types |
| unit | Unit-level coordinates from secondary address line geocoding. The result has been matched to a specific apartment, suite, or unit within a building |
| null | No specific match type information is available. This can apply to any accuracy type, including rooftop results where the coordinate source type is not known, as well as range_interpolation, street_center, place, and other result types |
Unlike accuracy_type, the match_type value can be null when no specific match type information is available.
Accuracy scores
Accuracy scores are a reflection of the amount of differences between the input and the output. We generally recommend using results with an accuracy score above 0.8. Results below that threshold can indicate potential issues, such as formatting issues or incomplete addresses.
1: the exact input was returned
0.8: Very close to the input with minor changes made
<0.6: More significant changes made; use these results with caution
For Australian and New Zealand addresses, treat a rooftop result with an accuracy score of 0.9 or higher as the building. A nearest_rooftop_match result means Geocodio found the right street. Anything lower is worth reviewing.
US Example: 47 N State St, Lake Oswego, OR 97034
The full address
Accuracy type: rooftop
Accuracy score: 1
Incomplete address (remove a digit from the ZIP code)
Accuracy type: still rooftop
Accuracy score: 0.9, reflecting that we had to change the ZIP input to arrive at the result
Remove the street address and geocode just the city, state
Accuracy type: place (i.e., a centroid for the city)
Accuracy score: 1, as the city/state names were spelled correctly
UK Example: 10 Downing St, London SW1A 2AA, UK
The full address
Accuracy type: rooftop
Accuracy score: 1
Incomplete address (remove a digit from the ZIP code)
Accuracy type: still rooftop, reflecting that we had to change the ZIP input to arrive at the result
Accuracy score 0.95
Remove the street address and geocode just the city and country
Accuracy type: place
Accuracy score: 1, as the city/country names were spelled correctly
See more about our data sources here.
Detailed accuracy explanations
Enterprise customers can optionally add the verbose parameter when using the API, which gives a more detailed breakdown of the reasoning behind the accuracy score and type. See more in our Enterprise API documentation.
Have an accuracy issue?
If you have an accuracy issue with a particular address, please submit an address issue report. This will put the address directly into our engineering queue for root-cause investigation, and you'll receive updates on our investigation.
You can submit an address report via your dashboard (requires login):