Custom Area Maps

current pin location
Custom map Google Maps: Create your own custom Google Map using any combination of ZIP Codes to depict your delivery area, service area or sales territory
Create your custom delivery area, service area or sales territory map link from ZIP Codes*:
Want to color-code groups of ZIP Codes or Counties? Use the Custom Color-Coded Maps tool.
* The above tool supports either 5-digit ZIP Codes OR 3-digit ZIP Codes, which are often used in defining sales territories
Use the easy form above to create your own custom map using ZIP Codes, or if you want to build the map link the hard way, keep reading…
To zoom to one or multiple ZIP Codes, and optionally show their boundary (e.g. for a service territory, sales territory or delivery area), create a link such as this:https://www.randymajors.org/customgmap?zips=10023,10024,10025,10026&title=My+Service+Territory
TIP: copy/paste the link above and customize to suit your needs
NEED TO DETERMINE WHICH ZIP CODES YOU SERVE? Type your business address in the “Search places” box above the map, check the “Show ZIP Code boundaries” (and optionally labels) box in the lower left, then use the “Drawing Tools” button on the left side of the map to draw a polygon around the area you would like to deliver to. A list of ZIP Codes will appear in a box from which you can copy/paste to build your link!
The parameters you can use to build your custom link are:
- zips – expects a comma-separated list of one or multiple 5-digit U.S. ZIP Code(s) (do not use
spaces between the commas), for example:
?zips=10023,10024
- loc – show customer/user location by using the word true, as in:
&loc=true
- counties – optionally shows county lines by using the word
show
, as in:&counties=show
- cities – optionally shows U.S. city limits by using the word
show
, as in:&cities=show
- title – optionally give your map a title (use the
+
character to represent spaces), for example:&title=My+Sales+Territory
- color – optionally choose the color used for the Map Title and the ZIP boundary, expects a
6-character hex color code without the leading
#
character, for example,&color=00FF00
would create a green map title and ZIP boundary (free tools are widely available on the internet to find your hex color) - zipcodes – optionally shows ZIP Code boundaries within your custom area by using the word
show
, as in:&zipcodes=show
- labels – optionally shows ZIP Code labels within your custom area by using the word show, as in:
&labels=show
- showoutside – optionally overrides the zipcodes and labels parameters to also show them outside of your custom area by using the word show, as in:
&showoutside=show
- zipboundary – optionally HIDE the merged overall boundary by using the word
hide
, as in:&zipboundary=hide
A few important things to make this work:
- You must use the question mark (
?
) right after, as shown above and below
- Do NOT use spaces anywhere in the URL or query parameters
- You must separate query parameters using the ampersand (
&
), as shown above and below - User the
+
character to represent spaces in the title parameter - If you use
loc=true
the map will center on the customer/user’s location; leave this parameter out if you always want the map centered on your overall ZIP Code boundary
TIP: For simplicity, you can drop the https://www
from the front and just create the
link as:
- randymajors.org/customgmap?zips=64701
- randymajors.org/customgmap?zips=10023,10024,10025,10026&title=My+Service+Territory
- randymajors.org/customgmap?zips=29588&cities=show&labels=show&title=ZIP+Code+29588
With this functionality, you can feel free to create links on your own website that open a window to the Custom Area Maps tool, zoomed into your area of interest and showing a ZIP Code based sales territory, service territory or delivery area!
Some websites that make use of this custom map functionality
- Teamsters Find Work website (see the ‘county lines’ link near the top of the pages)
- Where’s George currency tracking website (see the ‘Map this location’ Google Maps icons on the pages)
FAQs for ‘Custom Area Maps’
Feel free to share this with others who may find this functionality useful!
- Follow the instructions above this box to create a link to your own custom map.
- Once your customer uses this map, they can then zoom in, search for their address and so on. To go to
another location, type any place or address in the “Search places” box above the map*
OR: Zoom into your place of interest on the map - Optionally, check the “Show ZIP Code boundaries” and “Show ZIP Code labels” checkboxes in the lower left corner of the map to see the ZIP Codes on the map
- Optionally, check the “Also show US city limits” checkbox in the lower left corner of the map to see City Limits overlaid on the map (available in the U.S. only)
- Click the “⊕ Locate” button in the upper right corner of the map to use your current location † and quickly answer “what county am I in?”
- Subscribe in the top header to receive notification of tool updates and usage tips
*
You can also type in GPS coordinates in decimal degrees into the Search places box. For example, type
-105.25, 40 for Boulder, Colorado.
**
or equivalent province, district, etc.
*** All information is reported based on the location of the blue dot on the
map; to move the blue dot, click the map
†
The “Locate” button will be more accurate on smartphones and other devices containing a GPS; desktop
browsers typically show an approximate location
COVERAGE NOTES:
- US coverage includes Counties in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana
Islands and American Samoa
“Also show US city limits” draws all incorporated cities and towns in the United States and its territories and possessions - Within the UK, England displays Counties and Unitary Authorities, Scotland displays Council Areas, Wales displays Principal Areas, and Northern Ireland displays Districts. Explanation of Unitary Authorities, Council Areas, Principal Areas and Districts.
- Australia displays Local Government Areas (LGAs)
- New Zealand displays Territorial Authorities
- Canada displays Census Divisions, which are Counties in some provinces but may include other geographies
- Mexico displays Municipalities, which are the next level administrative divisions below State
- Switzerland displays Districts
OTHER NOTES:
- The Search places box uses a standard Google Maps geocoding engine, therefore you can type street addresses, road names, points of interest, and GPS coordinates (see * above) to see what county that location is part of
- Many of the map layers from which this information is extracted are very large, so it may take several seconds for all of the map layers to finish drawing
- Because the map layers are large, boundaries will not be shown if you are zoomed out too far
- Note that typing an address will zoom in the map very close, whereas typing a city or county by itself will show you a map with a wider view
- Disclaimer: While the number of decimals in the latitude and longitude displayed for the map marker imply a positional accuracy of within a few feet, note that Google Maps is not inherently that accurate, and therefore this tool should not be used for legal purposes or anything beyond entertainment value.
SOURCES:
– US: Census Bureau
– UK: Open Government License – Contains Office of National Statistics data, Ordnance Survey data ©Crown copyright and database right 2017. Open Data Lincese – Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
– Ireland: Open Data and Creative Commons License – Ordnance Survey Ireland
– Australia: Incorporates Administrative Boundaries ©PSMA Australia Limited licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence
– New Zealand: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 – Stats NZ
– Canada: Open License – Boundary Files, 2016 Census; Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 92-160-X
– Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI)
– Switzerland: Swiss Federal Office of Topography
Help improve this tool. Please comment.