Common Questions

Address Coder is affordable, stand-alone geocoding and data appending software that is built on Esri's core geocoding locator technology.

You can use Address Coder to geocode large U.S. address lists for marketing, direct mail, and notification campaigns. You can also quickly and easily append latitude-longitude coordinates, Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) codes, demographic data, and Tapestry Segmentation data to your address records.

This diagram illustrates geocoding and data information added to an address record using Address Coder. You can see the detail about Joe's address from geocoding his address record.

As records are geocoded in Address Coder, the MATCH_CODE field indicates the accuracy of the latitude and longitude coordinates that are assigned to each address record. This code is included in the output file. The match code is composed of five characters: the first indicates a match (M = match; U = unmatched), the second character identifies where the latitude and longitude coordinates originated, and the last three numerical digits represent a score (100 is perfect, as illustrated in the graphic). Here is a list and definitions of match codes:

MA### Record matched to the Tele Atlas Address Points database
MS### Record matched to the Tele Atlas Street Address Ranges database
M4### Record matched to the ZIP+4 of the address
M2### Record matched to the ZIP+2 of the address
MC### Record matched to the centroid of the city
MZ### Record matched to centroid of five-digit ZIP Code
UX### Record not matched

During the geocoding process in Address Coder, a GEOLEVEL field that indicates the accuracy of the appended geographic code (GEOCODE) is included in the output. Here are definitions of the GEOLEVEL codes:

B—The geographic code (GEOCODE) is a block.
G—The geographic code (GEOCODE) is a block group.
T—The geographic code (GEOCODE) is a census tract.
X—No census tract geography matches at the block or block group levels.

Esri data appended to address records represents the area where the address record was found during the geocoding process. For example, if the address was matched to a block or a block group (GEOLEVEL G or B), the Esri data represents the values for the block group. If the GEOLEVEL value is T, the geographic level represents the values for a census tract.

This four-step process shows the detail of information Address Coder quickly and easily adds to address records:

Step One: Data Address Record—Data address records are stored in files. For this example, each data address record should consist of a name, complete street address, city, state, and ZIP Code. Post Office boxes identify the location of the person's local post office, not the person's physical residence. You can see that Joe's basic address record does not provide any information about him except that he's a male and lives on Main Street in Anytown, CA.

Step Two: Geocoding—This process adds detail to Joe's address information by assigning a latitude-longitude coordinate to his address record. Codes such as state, county, census tract, block group, and block are geographic boundaries used by industries and governments for all state, county, and federal surveys, analyses, and evaluations. A block is a 15-digit code that represents an area the size of a city block. However, in more rural areas, this geographic area may be larger. The block is the smallest level of geography for which the Census Bureau tabulates data that is collected during a decennial census. When the geocode is added, Joe's address record looks like the illustration below and indicates his physical location.

Step Three: Demographic Data—After Joe's record was geocoded with latitude, longitude, and census geography codes, demographic data can be added to reveal even more about "who" he is based on the profile of his neighborhood. Esri's Updated Demographics variables, such as age, income, housing type, gender, race, and family type, help more fully describe the types of people who live in an area. As you can see in the example below, adding demographic data such as the current year population (POP_CY) and the total number of households (HH_CY) provides information that analysts can use to learn more about residents and the size of their neighborhoods. This additional data shows that in Joe's neighborhood, there are 1,348 people who live in 752 households.

Step Four: Tapestry Segmentation—For an additional perspective about the types of people who live in an area, a Tapestry Segmentation code can be appended to each address record. Esri's Tapestry Segmentation system combines the who of lifestyle demography with the where of local neighborhood geography to create a model of various lifestyle classifications, or segments, of actual neighborhoods into distinctive behavioral market segments. This example shows the addition of a Tapestry Segmentation code added to Joe's address record.

Now we know that Joe's neighborhood is described as Tapestry segment 08: Laptops and Lattes. Below is the description of Laptops and Lattes neighborhoods. Look at all the information that marketers, direct mail managers, fund-raisers, and others, can use to target this audience for the best results.

Tapestry Segment 08: Laptops and Lattes: Eligible and unencumbered by homeownership and children, residents of Laptops and Lattes neighborhoods are single, affluent, and still renting. The median age is 38.5 years. They are highly educated, professional, and partial to big-city life, preferring major metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago. Tech-savvy, this is the top group to own a laptop or notebook PC; they go online daily, especially to shop. Their favorite department store, by far, is Banana Republic. They go to movies, rock concerts, shows, museums, and nightclubs. They exercise regularly and take vitamins. They practice yoga, jog, ski, read, watch foreign films on video or DVD, eat out, and travel abroad. They tend to be liberal and work for environmental causes.

After your resident records have been appended with geographic, Tapestry Segmentation, and demographic data codes, they can be divided according to the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics in each segment. This marketing application can be used to attract more customers or more sales. Because each customer is unique, a mass marketing strategy is typically inefficient; however, a marketing strategy for each individual is unrealistic. The best solution is to categorize or group individuals according to their lifestyle preferences, habits, and their likes and dislikes, then target each group accordingly.

Marketers, direct mail managers, fund-raisers, political campaign managers, and government agency staffs can use Address Coder to raise response rates by crafting targeted messages for different audiences or developing promotions by consumer segment.

Address Coder comes loaded with geocoding software, ArcGIS Engine Runtime, Esri Updated Demographics, and geocoding reference data from Tele Atlas. Address Coder Premium adds the 51-million-record Tele Atlas Address Points database to the geocoding reference data.

The difference between the two product versions is the underlying geocoding reference data that is included. The premium version includes the Tele Atlas Address Points database for more precise geocoding. The Tele Atlas Address Points database includes more than 51 million residential and commercial U.S. address records. The database maps street addresses to a physical location so each address is a fixed point and not an interpolation from an address range.

Data in Address Coder includes Esri's Updated Demographics and Tapestry Segmentation data and Tele Atlas geocoding reference data. Optional add-on data includes Tapestry Segmentation at the block group and ZIP+4 levels, respectively.

Yes, there are two optional add-ons. The Tapestry Segmentation Appending Add-on enables you to append a dominant Tapestry Segmentation code to your customer records at the block group geography level. This option also comes with a Tapestry Segmentation Profile report that summarizes information about the Tapestry segments on your list.

Use the Tapestry Segmentation ZIP+4 Appending Add-on to append a dominant Tapestry Segmentation code to your customer records at the ZIP+4 geography level and provide the Tapestry Segmentation Profile report. This option is ideal if you need to precisely segment address records for mass mailings.

Yes. You can purchase Address Coder for the entire United States, for a region (six states), or for a single state.

No.

No, the product doesn't require the installation of ArcView, ArcInfo, or ArcEditor. However, at a minimum, it does require ArcGIS Engine Runtime, which automatically installs during the installation process.

It is recommended that you uninstall previous versions of ArcGIS before installing Address Coder 10.

None. You can begin work immediately. Easy-to-follow instructions guide you through the geocoding and data appending processes.