Reverse Geocoding

Find the nearest address to a latitude, longitude coordinate with Swiftcomplete's Reverse Geocoding API

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Reverse Geocoding Demo

Try one of our examples, or enter your own coordinates (Canada & Great Britain only):

Examples

43.64257,-79.38720
51.50808,-0.07608

Enter coordinates

Please enter valid latitude, longitude coordinates, or click one of our examples to try the service

What is reverse geocoding?

Reverse geocoding is the process of converting GPS coordinates into a readable address, street or place. For example, "51.499403,-0.127362" becomes "Westminster Abbey, London, SW1P 3PA, United Kingdom".

Using the Swiftcomplete Reverse Geocoding API, you can convert a latitude, longitude into an accurate postal address, or generate a list of the closest addresses or places to a GPS coordinate.

Integrate the API or npm package in minutes with the reverse geocoding documentation & code samples.

How it works

Swiftcomplete's reverse geocoder works by searching for the closest matches to your provided coordinates. This is either calculated by straight-line distance, or by checking whether the coordinates are situated within a polygon (e.g. a country).

Depending on your use-case, reverse geocoding can operate at different levels of resolution or accuracy:

Address level

Exact address

Coordinates for each individual property
Best possible data accuracy
Returns nearest postal address to your coordinates

Address range

Range of house numbers on a street
Finds approximate house number
Works best where houses are spaced evenly on the street

Street level

Street

Finds the closest street to your coordinates
More accurate in countries where street polylines are available rather than centre-point coordinates

Place level

Place

Nearest city, town, village or suburb
Measured by distance to the centre-point of the locality

Postcode

Closest postal code or ZIP code
Measured by distance to the centre-point of the postcode

Region level

Region

State, county & admin area reverse geocoding

Nearest state, county or admin area
More accurate in countries where polygons are available rather than centre-point coordinates

Country

Nearest country
More accurate where polygons are available rather than centre-point coordinates

Data availability varies by region. Less granular datasets (such as region level or place level) are more cost effective, whereas high-resolution address level datasets provide the best possible accuracy.

If you need help choosing the best data for your project, contact us and we will be happy to help.

Get started

Make your first reverse geocoding request in under 2 minutes

1. Create an account

2. Generate a reverse geocoding API key

3. Make your first API request

Integrate Swiftcomplete Reverse Geocoding

Swiftcomplete's reverse geocoding is available through a simple API, or via a npm package:

@swiftcomplete/reverse-geocode

Installation

npm install @swiftcomplete/reverse-geocode

Making a request

const swiftcompleteReverseGeocoder = require('@swiftcomplete/reverse-geocode');

swiftcompleteReverseGeocoder.setAPIKey('INSERT-KEY-HERE');

(async function () {
    let results = await swiftcompleteReverseGeocoder.reverseGeocode('51.499403,-0.127362', {});

    console.log(results);
}());

Response

[
    {
        "primary": {
            "text": "Westminster Abbey",
            "highlights": []
        },
        "secondary": {
            "text": "London",
            "highlights": []
        },
        "type": "address.residential.building.data.emptyroad",
        "isContainer": false,
        "geometry": {
            "centre": {
                "lat": 51.499462,
                "lon": -0.127448,
                "type": "address"
            }
        },
        "distance": {
            "units": "m",
            "measurement": 9,
            "type": "biasTowards",
            "geometry": {
                "centre": {
                    "lat": 51.499403,
                    "lon": -0.127362
                }
            }
        },
        "populatedRecord": {
            "lines": [
                "Westminster Abbey",
                "",
                "London",
                "SW1P 3PP",
                "United Kingdom"
            ],
            "label": "Westminster Abbey\nLondon\nSW1P 3PP\nUnited Kingdom"
        },
        "countryCode":"gb"
    }
]

Data coverage

At the moment, reverse geocoding is available in the following countries:

We regularly expand and improve our data coverage.

High volume and unlimited usage plans

Fixed price yearly contract

Priority customer support

Contact sales to get started with the Reverse Geocoding Enterprise Plan