I'm trying to get demographic data in the US at a level more specific than census block groups, so am going to try out using the zillow api and other similar apis to get home price and rental data for individual homes.

So far, I can't find a way to get the zillow api to return a list of every datapoint it has in its database (within a given area) in the form of a very large array, so my strategy currently is to make specific address requests to the API.

So what I need now is a list of every home address in a given area. My first guess is low hanging fruit, just get them from a phonebook. That's a good start but I don't know an open api or data dump for a phonebook currently. Will post sources as I learn them. What would be GREAT would be something like Open Street Map for homes. Not sure if anything like that exists though


What geographic scope are you looking for? If it's local (your city or county) check with your local government. Often times planning/zoning departments, building departments, or GIS departments have such a list, and it is probably considered public information and would most likely be in a digital format. Other local enitities you can check with may be the clerk's office, assessor's office, water department or the 911 centers. This list is obviously U.S. centric, but similar entities may exist in other countries.

  • 2
    Emergency 911 services has all valid addresses in our city. – ed.hank Aug 27 '15 at 19:12
  • Thank you @user3338197, its just as well that this question should remain hidden due to the downvote. This seems like solid intel. I will follow up on it. Kindest regards – boulder_ruby Sep 30 '15 at 1:29

I worked at a 911 center doing addressing for a while. You should know there is a difference in some areas of the physical (911) address and the mailing address. Assessment departments using mailing for tax bills, and the address assigned to the property may be to some property management agency. Not to mention some people just don't get mail delivered to them at home, they prefer a PO box at the Post Office. Most stores have mail sent to the home office so there is no local mail address for them.

While the Physical (911) address is used by 911 services, GPS companies, FedEx and UPS, it may not be used by the Post Office, so you may find 2 addresses for the same place.

The USPS actually sells addresses to mailing companies, these business sell it for Credit Card, mailing verification, and junk mail. This info changes all the time as people move in an out and change mailing but the 911 address stays the same.

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