{"id":2938784,"date":"2025-12-12T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T20:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2938784"},"modified":"2025-12-15T08:50:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T16:50:22","slug":"territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro","title":{"rendered":"What is territory design in ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro?"},"author":78361,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[23341],"tags":[],"industry":[],"product":[36711,36561],"class_list":["post-2938784","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analytics","product-bus-analyst","product-arcgis-pro"],"acf":{"authors":[{"ID":78361,"user_firstname":"Gemma","user_lastname":"Goodale-Sussen","nickname":"Gemma Goodale-Sussen","user_nicename":"ggoodalesussen","display_name":"Gemma Goodale-Sussen","user_email":"ggoodalesussen@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2020-08-06 15:49:58","user_description":"Gemma is a writer at Esri, focusing on content for the ArcGIS Business Analyst team.","user_avatar":""}],"short_description":"Learn about the process of designing, solving, balancing, and managing territories in ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Imagine you work as an election official in the state of Iowa. Your job is to make sure that election and voting materials are distributed to and collected from each county seat in a timely manner year-round. You\u2019ve got a great team of employees: 20 bright-eyed, motivated election workers who are eager to serve Iowa\u2019s voters. Amazing! You\u2019ll just send the election workers to the county seats and democracy will be running smoothly, right? Except for one problem\u2026<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2938786,"id":2938786,"title":"Picture1","filename":"Picture1.png","filesize":119696,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture1.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/picture1-150","alt":"Counties in Iowa","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"","name":"picture1-150","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-09-09 02:44:51","modified":"2025-09-09 02:44:58","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":780,"height":414,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture1-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture1.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":246,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture1.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":408,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture1.png","large-width":780,"large-height":414,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture1.png","1536x1536-width":780,"1536x1536-height":414,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture1.png","2048x2048-width":780,"2048x2048-height":414,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture1.png","card_image-width":780,"card_image-height":414,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture1.png","wide_image-width":780,"wide_image-height":414}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

There are 99 counties in the state of Iowa. And your team, plucky as they may be, can\u2019t just organize themselves to get the work covered. You\u2019ll need to create territories for your employees, grouping multiple counties into each territory, to make sure every county is tended to and none of your workers get overtaxed driving around the state. What if there was a GIS toolset that allowed you to input all the information you have, create a solution, and even edit the territories to factor in your employees\u2019 preferences?<\/p>\n

In this article, we\u2019ll explain how to use the Territory Design toolset in ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro<\/a> and walk through the steps so your election workers can get to work!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All about that base<\/h2>\n

The base level of a territory solution provides the foundation for all further work\u2014it contains the most, well, basic<\/em> level of geography that your territories are built from. In this example, your territory base level consists of all the counties in Iowa. There are other options too: a base level can be any polygon or point layer in your ArcGIS Pro project, including custom boundaries informed by business needs.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2939533,"id":2939533,"title":"Snag_db3ada3","filename":"Snag_db3ada3.png","filesize":1560494,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_db3ada3.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/snag_db3ada3","alt":"Custom base feature options","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"You can also create territory solutions using custom polygons (left) or points (right).","name":"snag_db3ada3","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-09-11 18:21:28","modified":"2025-09-11 18:22:26","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1808,"height":660,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_db3ada3-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_db3ada3.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_db3ada3.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":280,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_db3ada3.png","large-width":1808,"large-height":660,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_db3ada3-1536x561.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":561,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_db3ada3.png","2048x2048-width":1808,"2048x2048-height":660,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_db3ada3-826x302.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":302,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_db3ada3.png","wide_image-width":1808,"wide_image-height":660}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

So let\u2019s start by drawing all the counties in Iowa on the map in their own layer. Might sound hard to do, but the Generate Standard Geography Trade Areas tool<\/a> makes it pretty snappy. We\u2019ll name that layer Iowa_counties<\/strong> so it\u2019s easy to identify. For good measure, let\u2019s enrich the layer<\/a> with the psychographic variable Vote in National Elections: Always<\/strong>, and use this layer, Iowa_counties_EnrichLayer, in the analysis. Using this variable provides data on the amount of likely voters in each county.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2938788,"id":2938788,"title":"Picture2","filename":"Picture2.png","filesize":191545,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/picture2-91","alt":"Counties in Iowa mapped as trade areas","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"","name":"picture2-91","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-09-09 02:46:42","modified":"2025-09-09 02:46:49","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":780,"height":435,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":259,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":428,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2.png","large-width":780,"large-height":435,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2.png","1536x1536-width":780,"1536x1536-height":435,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2.png","2048x2048-width":780,"2048x2048-height":435,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2.png","card_image-width":780,"card_image-height":435,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2.png","wide_image-width":780,"wide_image-height":435}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Now that we\u2019ve got the raw material for your base level on the map, let\u2019s dive in to the world of territory design.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why is it called a solution?<\/h2>\n

Designing territories requires that you take lots of factors into account: geographic information (such as facility locations and travel barriers) as well as business information (such as work capacity and personal preferences). You feed these constraints into the tool and then \u201csolve\u201d the complex problem you\u2019ve set up. So let\u2019s go ahead and set up your problem, starting by opening the Business Analysis<\/strong> menu and clicking New Territory Design Solution<\/strong>:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2951419,"id":2951419,"title":"Snag_6af80e6b","filename":"Snag_6af80e6b.png","filesize":31459,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6af80e6b.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/snag_6af80e6b","alt":"New Territory Design Solution button","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"","name":"snag_6af80e6b","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-12-11 21:10:49","modified":"2025-12-11 21:10:54","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":608,"height":291,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6af80e6b-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6af80e6b.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":222,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6af80e6b.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":291,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6af80e6b.png","large-width":608,"large-height":291,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6af80e6b.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":291,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6af80e6b.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":291,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6af80e6b.png","card_image-width":608,"card_image-height":291,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6af80e6b.png","wide_image-width":608,"wide_image-height":291}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

The Create Territory Solution<\/strong> tool opens as a free-floating window. It looks like a ton of parameters to fill out, but it\u2019s actually only a couple. For Input Features<\/strong>, you\u2019ll grab your Iowa_counties_EnrichLayer layer, name the territory solution Iowa Election Territories<\/strong>, and specify ID Field<\/strong> as Object ID<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Once your pane looks like this, click OK<\/strong>:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2951384,"id":2951384,"title":"Snag_6ac42720","filename":"Snag_6ac42720.png","filesize":17042,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac42720.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/snag_6ac42720","alt":"Territory solution parameters","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"","name":"snag_6ac42720","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-12-11 20:14:08","modified":"2025-12-11 20:14:12","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":496,"height":356,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac42720-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac42720.png","medium-width":364,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac42720.png","medium_large-width":496,"medium_large-height":356,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac42720.png","large-width":496,"large-height":356,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac42720.png","1536x1536-width":496,"1536x1536-height":356,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac42720.png","2048x2048-width":496,"2048x2048-height":356,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac42720.png","card_image-width":496,"card_image-height":356,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac42720.png","wide_image-width":496,"wide_image-height":356}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Now that we\u2019ve got the territory group layer set up, handily called Iowa Election Territories, we\u2019ll go about making sure there is a fair balance of work for the election workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Striking a balance<\/h2>\n

We all know that feeling: being expected to do a bunch of work, but the difficulty or complexity of the work being unacknowledged. An election worker tasked with servicing a group of counties that has way more voters than others might reasonably feel this way! So let\u2019s make this fair by balancing the territories. We\u2019ll use that \u201cAlways Votes in Elections\u201d variable to approximate counties with higher need for voting materials.<\/p>\n

Now that we have the skeleton of a territory solution in place, if we click the Iowa Election Territories <\/strong>group layer, a Territory Design<\/strong> tab appears on the top ribbon in Pro. Go ahead and click it to see the territory design tools at your disposal:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2938791,"id":2938791,"title":"Picture5","filename":"Picture5.png","filesize":122237,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/picture5-59","alt":"Territory Design ribbon in ArcGIS Pro","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"","name":"picture5-59","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-09-09 02:48:30","modified":"2025-09-09 02:48:37","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":780,"height":274,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":163,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":270,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5.png","large-width":780,"large-height":274,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5.png","1536x1536-width":780,"1536x1536-height":274,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5.png","2048x2048-width":780,"2048x2048-height":274,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5.png","card_image-width":780,"card_image-height":274,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5.png","wide_image-width":780,"wide_image-height":274}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

First we\u2019ll add the variable to the Territories<\/strong> layer, then we\u2019ll use it to balance the territories and distribute work evenly. Let\u2019s click Add Variables<\/strong>, and in the Add Level Variables geoprocessing tool that opens, the Variables<\/strong> drop-down menu allows us to choose the voting variable from the enriched layer:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2951385,"id":2951385,"title":"Snag_6ac4fd8b","filename":"Snag_6ac4fd8b.png","filesize":22298,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac4fd8b.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/snag_6ac4fd8b","alt":"Adding variables","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"","name":"snag_6ac4fd8b","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-12-11 20:15:02","modified":"2025-12-11 20:15:06","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":497,"height":348,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac4fd8b-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac4fd8b.png","medium-width":373,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac4fd8b.png","medium_large-width":497,"medium_large-height":348,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac4fd8b.png","large-width":497,"large-height":348,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac4fd8b.png","1536x1536-width":497,"1536x1536-height":348,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac4fd8b.png","2048x2048-width":497,"2048x2048-height":348,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac4fd8b.png","card_image-width":497,"card_image-height":348,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac4fd8b.png","wide_image-width":497,"wide_image-height":348}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

After setting Statistic<\/strong> to Sum<\/strong> and giving the variable the alias Likely Voters<\/strong>, click OK<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Now that the variable is part of the equation, let\u2019s actually tell the tool to balance the territories based on this variable by clicking Balance Variables<\/strong> on the ribbon. In the Set Balance Variables tool that opens, we\u2019ll pick the voting variable (given the convenient alias \u201cLikely Voters\u201d) and set the weight to 100. Since this is a simple version of territory design, that\u2019s all we\u2019ll add! But in more complex design sessions, you could add many variables and weight them according to their importance.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2951387,"id":2951387,"title":"Snag_6ac5c204","filename":"Snag_6ac5c204.png","filesize":11263,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac5c204.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/snag_6ac5c204","alt":"Balancing solution using variables","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"","name":"snag_6ac5c204","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-12-11 20:15:53","modified":"2025-12-11 20:16:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":493,"height":270,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac5c204-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac5c204.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac5c204.png","medium_large-width":493,"medium_large-height":270,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac5c204.png","large-width":493,"large-height":270,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac5c204.png","1536x1536-width":493,"1536x1536-height":270,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac5c204.png","2048x2048-width":493,"2048x2048-height":270,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac5c204.png","card_image-width":493,"card_image-height":270,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac5c204.png","wide_image-width":493,"wide_image-height":270}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

When we click OK<\/strong>, the variable has been factored in to the territories. Up until now, there hasn\u2019t been much visual excitement on the map; we\u2019ve just been building the pieces. That\u2019s about to change\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Solving the problem<\/h2>\n

Finally, on the Territory Design<\/strong> ribbon, we get to click Solve<\/strong>. The tool that opens, Solve Territories, is pretty simple: we tell the tool that we (the user) will define the number of territories we need, and enter that number. To divide up the 99 counties into territories that are evenly distributed based on the number of voters in each county, we\u2019ll enter the number of election workers: 20.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2951388,"id":2951388,"title":"Snag_6ac700ec","filename":"Snag_6ac700ec.png","filesize":12574,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac700ec.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/snag_6ac700ec","alt":"Solving the territories","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"","name":"snag_6ac700ec","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-12-11 20:17:14","modified":"2025-12-11 20:17:20","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":494,"height":270,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac700ec-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac700ec.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac700ec.png","medium_large-width":494,"medium_large-height":270,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac700ec.png","large-width":494,"large-height":270,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac700ec.png","1536x1536-width":494,"1536x1536-height":270,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac700ec.png","2048x2048-width":494,"2048x2048-height":270,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac700ec.png","card_image-width":494,"card_image-height":270,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Snag_6ac700ec.png","wide_image-width":494,"wide_image-height":270}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Once we click OK<\/strong>, the magic happens. The counties are grouped into territories, visible on the map by color-coding.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2938796,"id":2938796,"title":"Picture10","filename":"Picture10.png","filesize":213550,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture10.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/bus-analyst\/analytics\/territory-design-in-business-analyst-pro\/picture10-36","alt":"Iowa election worker territories","author":"78361","description":"","caption":"","name":"picture10-36","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2938784,"date":"2025-09-09 02:51:18","modified":"2025-09-09 02:51:26","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":780,"height":423,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture10-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture10.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":252,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture10.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":416,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture10.png","large-width":780,"large-height":423,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture10.png","1536x1536-width":780,"1536x1536-height":423,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture10.png","2048x2048-width":780,"2048x2048-height":423,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture10.png","card_image-width":780,"card_image-height":423,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture10.png","wide_image-width":780,"wide_image-height":423}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Taking a look at the territories, a few things become apparent:<\/p>\n