9. Geocoding

If you have a large number of street addresses and wish to turn them into points on a map, you can use QGIS to generate X,Y coordinates from the addresses. This process is called geocoding. QGIS uses a plugin called MMQGIS for geocoding.


9.1. Assignment

In this tutorial, we will geocode a list of addresses that represent McDonald’s restaurants in the USA. The list is somewhat dated, but its contents meets our purpose. The addresses were downloaded from a Github site at https://github.com/gavinr/usa-mcdonalds-locations/blob/master/mcdonalds.geojson. The list is originally in geojson format and was converted to csv format for this exercise.


9.2. Basic Steps for Geocoding

  1. Download the list of addresses in csv format. The address information split into multiple columns, e.g., street address, state, and 5-digit ZIP code.

  2. Install the MMQGIS Plugin.

  3. After installation, access the plugin by clicking on MMQGIS | Geocoding from the top menu bar.

The MMGIS Plugin

  1. When the dialog appears, enter the path to the csv file that contains the list of addresses for geocoding.

  2. Select the columns in the csv file that contain the street addresses, city, and state.

  3. Select OpenStreetMap as the Web Service to use for geocoding.

  4. Browse to a folder where you want the resulting shapefile to be and supply a complete path inluding file name for the shapefile that will be created.

  5. Supply a path and file name for a new csv file that will be created to store the addresses the software could not find.

  6. Click Apply. A new shapefile with the geocoded points will appear.


9.3. Geocoding Resources

  1. https://www.gislounge.com/how-to-geocode-addresses-using-qgis/

  2. https://guides.library.ucsc.edu/DS/Resources/QGIS

  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOAM0vfsSns


9.4. Deliverables

Submit a professional quality map showing the geocoded points. Include a streets layer as background.