---
title: "Resolve a City, County, or ZIP — Property Search API"
description: "Resolve a partial city, county, or ZIP name into a structured search-area object you pass straight into the location filter. Returns up to 5 matches. Free."
---

# Resolve a city / county / ZIP name into a search-area object (free)

`GET /api/area/autocomplete/`

Free

## What it returns

Up to 5 **area suggestions** (city, county, or ZIP) matching a partial place name — each a structured object you pass straight into the `location` filter of `preview_property_search` / `run_property_search`. This is how you turn "Austin" or "Travis County" into the exact object the search needs.

Distinct from `auto_complete_address`: that resolves a single street address (for the single-property analysis tools); this resolves a search **area** (a whole city / county / ZIP) for database search.

## When to use it

- ALWAYS before a property search, to build the `location` filter. Don't hand-craft area objects — resolve them here so the city name, `state_code`, and county name match the database.
- Pick the suggestion whose `type` (`city` / `county` / `postal_code`) matches what the user meant, then JSON-encode it as a one-element array for `location` — e.g. `location=[{the chosen suggestion}]`.

## Pricing

**Free — 0 credits.**

## Errors

| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 400 | `input` missing. |
| 404 | No areas matched the input. |