Howard County Logo
Data Download and Viewer
Welcome to the Howard County, Maryland data download and viewer page. This page contains a growing repository of information provided by various county departments for use by the general public. For more interactive and static maps, please click on the Map and Data Tools tab

Below are our three primary applications.... For over a dozen additional applications and viewers choose the "Map and Data Tools" tab.

My Neighborhood

Find a Howard County address and view detailed information about it including nearby public facilities.

Click for My Neighborhood

Interactive Map

Load and overlay different county datasets on an interactive map. For more advanced users.

Click for Interactive Map

Map Gallery

View general-purpose PDF maps generated by various county agencies for easy printing.

Click for Map Gallery

The datasets listed on this page come from one of two sources:
  • Datasets listed in green come from the county's GIS division.
  • Datasets listed in blue come from the county's open data portal.

The following tools were designed to help citizens navigate the county's datasets interactively.

DPZNotify
Community Registration Logo
Sign up with DPZNotify to receive notifications via email on pre-submission meetings, capital budget hearings at Planning Board, and other planning-related initiatives. This tool also provides address list generator functionality allowing users to draw a shape or create a buffer to generate a list of addresses within the drawn shape or buffer.

Link To Website
Age Restricted Housing
Age Restricted Housing
This site offers an easy way to view all age-restricted housing developments in Howard County. It indicates whether the housing is rental or ownership as well as the type of housing and number of units.

Link To Website
Aerial Photography Map Viewer
Aerial Viewer Logo
View historic and current aerial photography from 1943 to the present in this easy to use application.

Link To Website
Columbia - Final Development Plans
FDP App Logo
View and download Final Development Plans (FDP) for Columbia New Town Zoning.

Link To Website
Construction Projects Map
Constructions Project Logo
Displays current and archived construction project sites and related information including press releases, contacts, and images. Projects are maintained by the Department of Public Works and Recreation and Parks.

Link To Website
EC Safe and Sound - Debris Removal Map
Debris Removal Logo
This Interactive Map displays live debris removal efforts after major storm events. After a weather event, county contractors and DPW staff inspect and remove debris from 56 critical waterway sites to promote waterflow. The application shows live and past events including debris type removed and photos of the inspection sites.

Link To Website
Development Plans + Public Meetings Map
Development Plans Logo
Find public meetings or view current and past development plans near a specific address on a Google map. Download plan documents and contact relevant planners and engineers.

Link To Website
Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Information
Flood Insurance Rate Map Logo
View flood insurance related items on this interactive map. It includes: flood zones and flood related depths, elevation of buildings or properties to Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA), historic FIRMs, county regulated floodplain, and locations and document links to elevation certificates.

Link To Website
Food Scrap Collection Signup
Food Scrap Collection
Use this interactive map to determine if your residence is eligible for food scrap collection. Eligible residences may signup through this form. Non eligible, those residences not in the current food scrap collection zone, may complete a form to be contacted if the program is expanded to their area.

Link To Website
Geodetic Survey Control Map
Geodetic App Logo
Find Geodetic Benchmarks and Stations around Howard County. View linked scanned recovery cards for more detail and relevant coordinate information.

Link To Website
Green Map
Green Infrastructure Logo
This Live Green Howard interactive map includes Environmental Organizations, Farms, Green Businesses, Green Schools, Green Technology, Historic/Cultural Sites, LEED Buildings, Park/Natrual Areas, Waste/Recycling and Bus Stops and Routes.

Link To Website
Green Infrastructure Map
Green Infrastructure Logo
Green Infrastructure is an interconnected network of: waterways, wetlands, woodlands, wildlife habitats...

Link To Website
Historic Sites Viewer
Historic Sites Logo
View historic sites and districts and download related documentation.

Link To Website
HoCo Donation Collection
HoCoFarmsConnect Logo
This interactive map displays the locations and a list of donation collection sites. Site information includes the hours of operation, needed items, and description of drop-off location on site.

Link To Website
HoCo Farms Connect
HoCoFarmsConnect Logo
This interactive map displays the locations and a list of farms or farmers markets that sell directly to the public. Farm information includes type of products, hours of operation, description, and delivery and pickup options. It includes a link for farms to register their establishment and get it on the map.

Link To Website
HoCo Food Go
HoCoFoodGo Logo
This interactive map displays the locations and a list of restaurants that have takeout and delivery options. Restaurant information includes type, hours of operation, description, dietery options and other searchable info. It includes a link for restaurants to register their establishment and get it on the map.

Link To Website
Howard County Government Campus Arboretum
HC Arboretum Logo
A wonderful assortment of trees has been planted around this complex of county office buildings. The interactive map will help you locate and identify these trees and retrieve more information.

Link To Website
Map Gallery
Map Gallery Logo
View general-purpose PDF maps generated by various county agencies.

Link To Map Gallery
Map Gallery Bin
Map Gallery Bin Logo
The Map Gallery Bin was created as respository for custom maps created by various county agencies for particular projects. It contains a dynamic search to help filter through the maps you want.

Link To Map Gallery Bin
My Neighborhood
My Neighborhood Logo
Find an Howard County address and view detailed information about it including nearby public facilities. Also, view the address and related information on a Google map.

Link To Website
HoCo Parks
Parks Logo
Find parks and view detailed park maps. Search for nearest parks and park ammentities nearest to your device's location. Get driving directions and much more.

Link To Website
Preservation Easements
Preservation Easements Logo
Find Preservation easements througout Howard County. Easements include various Agricultural, Environmental, Preservation, and Historic easements and trusts.

Link To Website
Voter Information Map
Voter Information Logo
This Google Map application lets you key in an address and return the relevant polling location as well as driving directions to that polling location.

Link To Website

OpenHoward Web Services

Socrata Web Services
To access the Socrata API documentation, click below:

Link to SODA documentation

GIS Web Services

Howard County publishes about 180 datasets as both WMS (Web Map Service) and WFS (Web Feature Service) layers for use on its own websites and for use by the general public. These web services are used by the county in many of the websites listed on the "Map and Data Tools" tab as well as the interactive map on the "Welcome" tab.

Web Map Services
A Web Map Service (WMS) is a standard protocol for serving georeferenced map images over the Internet that are generated by a map server using data from a GIS database. The specification was developed and first published by the Open Geospatial Consortium in 1999. (Source: Wikipedia)

WMS Service Link WMS Capabilities Document
Web Feature Services
The Open Geospatial Consortium Web Feature Service (WFS) Interface Standard provides an interface allowing requests for geographical features across the web using platform-independent calls. (Source: Wikipedia)

WFS Service Link WFS Capabilities Document
GIS Support Web Services
These web services are .NET-based .asmx web services that power some of our interactive mapping applications. They include the following:
  • Generate List of Streets
  • Generate Street Intersections
  • Query ADC Map Grid
  • Query Address Points
  • Query Property by Map/Parcel/Lot
  • Query Property by Plat Number
  • Query Property by Tax ID
  • Query Scanned Drawings By Name
  • Query Scanned Drawings By Number
Data Explorer Service Link
Howard County maintains strong data sharing relationships with surrounding local jurisdictions as well as the state and Federal government. These are data access resources provided by other government agencies and non profit organizations that might be helpful and/or supplemental to the data provided on this website.

Federal Resources
  • Data.Gov
  • Ramona GIS Inventory - RAMONA tracks data availability and the status of geographic information system (GIS) implementations in state and local governments to aid the planning and building of Spatial Data Infrastructures. This is the primary location to locate more complete metadata about Howard County's GIS layers as well as metadata for state and federal GIS layers.
Other Organizations
  • Code For America- Code for America helps governments become more transparent, connected, and efficient by connecting web developers with people who deliver city services, and through that process, we are growing the corp of tech-savvy citizens working to better our communities.
  • Sunlight Foundation - The Sunlight Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that uses the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency, and provides new tools and resources for media and citizens, alike.
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