Introduction to ArcGIS Places

Esri creates ArcGIS Places datasets for over 170 countries and regions around the world sourced from data supplied by reliable business and location data sources. ArcGIS Places datasets provide authoritative information about geographic locations.

ArcGIS Places datasets can be used as a stand-alone foundation for map visualization and location analysis or can be used in the context of other data types, such as Esri Demographics and imagery data.

Places, also known as points of interest (POIs), are geographic locations represented by a single latitude-longitude point. A place may be a business, a government building such as a post office, a landmark like the Eiffel Tower, or a natural feature such as a lake or a trail head.

Knowing about the places that exist in an area of interest can inform your geographic analysis and decision making, helping you answer questions such as the following:

• Where is the nearest pharmacy that is currently open?
• How far is a competitor's store from my business?
• What is the demographic profile of this census tract?
• Where are the most popular Italian restaurants near my current location?
• Is this place located in a flood zone or near other natural hazards?

Data source vintages and update frequency

The data sources that Esri uses to create ArcGIS Places datasets update the source data at various intervals. The vintages and update frequencies are as follows:

Data source	Country	Vintage	Update frequency
Data Axle	Canada and the United States	November 2024	Annual (local data only)
			3 times per year
DENUE	Mexico	2021	Annual
Esri India	India	May 2024	Annual
Foursquare	Approximately 170 countries	January 2025	3 times per year
NOSTRA	Thailand	2023	Annual
SafeGraph	Canada	December 2024	3 times per year
	Puerto Rico
	United States

The number and type of attributes and the level of detail available vary by data source. The overall regional coverage provided by ArcGIS Places datasets is nearly global.

Note:

To learn about the most recent changes and updates to ArcGIS Places data, see What's new in ArcGIS Places.

Note:

In January 2025, Esri is incorporating Foursquare Open Source Places into the global ArcGIS Places data. See Reference A below. As a result of this change to the source content, customers may notice some differences from previous versions when using this data in Esri products and services, such as the number of attributes available for a location, the number of regional place records returned, and an updated category code system. See the Places category finder to locate updated category codes.

Note:

Reference A—© 2024 Foursquare Labs, Inc. All rights reserved. Licensed under the Apache License. Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0. Unless required by applicable law or agreed in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

Access methods

It is required that you access ArcGIS Places datasets using licensed ArcGIS products through one of three available access methods:

• An ArcGIS Location Platform account
• An ArcGIS Online account
• Install ArcGIS Places data locally

  Note:

  Local data installations require the purchase of an ArcGIS Places dataset bundle.

Product licenses, ArcGIS accounts, and dataset bundles each have associated costs. See the product documentation in the tables below for licensing and product usage details. See the ArcGIS Online Credits by capability topic or the ArcGIS Location Platform Pricing topic to learn more about the costs associated with accessing ArcGIS Places data when performing tasks such as exporting ArcGIS Places with a business search, finding nearby locations, creating and downloading reports, and creating or exporting infographics.

Esri products

ArcGIS Places datasets are available in the following Esri products:

ArcGIS Pro with a Business Analyst license

ArcGIS Pro with a Business Analyst license is available to use with all data sources.

Access method	ArcGIS Online account: all data sources Locally installed data with a dataset bundle: available for Data Axle annual dataset and Esri India only
Documentation	Search points of interest Infographics (infographic templates describing nearby POIs)

ArcGIS Pro

ArcGIS Pro is available to use with all data sources. Locally installed data with a dataset bundle is not available for this product.

Access method	ArcGIS Online account
Documentation	Infographics (infographic templates describing nearby POIs)

ArcGIS Business Analyst Enterprise

ArcGIS Business Analyst Enterprise is only available for locally installed data with a dataset bundle using data sourced from Data Axle for the United States or from Esri India for India.

Access method	Locally installed data with a dataset bundle
Documentation	Search points of interest Installing and managing data packs

ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App (BA)

ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App is available to use with all data sources. Locally installed data with a dataset bundle is not available for this product.

Access method	ArcGIS Online account
Documentation	Map points of interest Void analysis Infographics (infographic templates describing nearby POIs)

ArcGIS Business Analyst Mobile App (BA)

ArcGIS Business Analyst Mobile App is available to use with all data sources. Locally installed data with a dataset bundle is not available for this product.

Access method	ArcGIS Online account
Documentation	Run Reports workflow (Infographic templates describing nearby POI)

ArcGIS Experience Builder

ArcGIS Experience Builder is available to use with all data sources. Locally installed data with a dataset bundle is not available for this product.

Access method	ArcGIS Location Platform account ArcGIS Online account
Documentation	Business Analyst widget (infographic templates describing nearby POIs)

ArcGIS Places service

The ArcGIS Places service is available to use with the global location data supplied by Foursquare using an ArcGIS Location Platform account access method only.

Access method	ArcGIS Location Platform account
Documentation	ArcGIS Places service

Attribute comparison

The following table compares the attributes available from all ArcGIS Places data sources. Not all attributes include the same level of detail for the same number of data points.

Attribute	Description	Data Axle	DENUE	Esri India	Foursquare	NOSTRA	SafeGraph
Place, company, or business name	The name by which a place or business is known.
Brand	Any brand name affiliated with the business, when applicable.
Category	Industry-related category code.
NAICS code	North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code.
SIC code	Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code.
Detailed location information	The address, town, or geographic details associated with a place or business. Some data providers include more granular address information. See individual data provider topics for details.
Landmark	Known landmarks near the place or business.
Location	Geographic coordinates for the place or alternative access points in WGS84 decimal degree format.
Block ID	Geostatistical data, such as the AGEB ID, Block ID, a U.S. Census Block geoid value, or Uber H3 global hexagon identifier.
Chain, organization, or franchise	Any standardized chain (franchised business), organization, or direct headquarters affiliated with a place or business.
Location Confidence	Indicates the spatial accuracy of a business, such as rooftop accuracy versus a ZIP code centroid.
Hours	The hours of operation or weekly schedule information.
Contact	Phone, website, fax, email, or social media account information.
Professional specialty	Specialties within a line of business.
Square footage	The estimated square footage of the business.
Employee count	Number of employees.
Sales volume / assets	Estimated sales or assets.
Permanency	Establishes whether the place is fixed or semi-fixed, such as a street vendor.