Quickstart: Patterns and Best Practices

Installation

To install the US Census Geocoder, just execute:

$ pip install census-geocoder

Importing the Library

Importing the Census Geocoder is very straightforward. You can either import its components precisely (see API Reference) or simply import the entire module:

# Import the entire module.
import census_geocoder as geocoder

result = geocoder.location.from_address('4600 Silver Hill Rd, Washington, DC 20233')
result = geocoder.geography.from_address('4600 Silver Hill Rd, Washington, DC 20233')

# Import precise components.
from census_geocoder import Location, Geography

result = Location.from_address('4600 Silver Hill Rd, Washington, DC 20233')
result = Geography.from_address('4600 Silver Hill Rd, Washington, DC 20233')

Getting Location Data

Retrieving data about canonical locations is very straightforward. You have four different ways to get this information, depending on what information you have about the location you want to geocode:

import census_geocoder as geocoder

result = geocoder.location.from_address('4600 Silver Hill Rd, Washington, DC 20233')

See also

Getting Geographical Area Data

Retrieving data about the geographic areas that contain a given location/place is just as straightforward as getting location data. In fact, the syntax is almost identical. Just swap out the word 'location' for 'geography' and you’re done!

Here’s how to do it:

import census_geocoder as geocoder

result = geocoder.geography.from_address('4600 Silver Hill Rd, Washington, DC 20233')

See also