United States Guides How to Look Up a Property by Parcel Number (APN)

How to Look Up a Property by Parcel Number (APN)

An Assessor Parcel Number (APN) is a county's unique ID for a parcel of land. Here's how to look one up and search property data by it.

Find the APN first

A property's APN is printed on its property tax bill and deed, and is searchable by address on the county assessor or property-appraiser website. Formats vary by county (dashes, dots, or spaces).

Search the dataset by parcel

APNs are unique within a county, not nationally — two counties can reuse the same number. So pair the parcel_apn with the 5-digit county_fips to identify a parcel uniquely:

SELECT * FROM 'realestatedataset-california-2026-08-01.parquet'
WHERE parcel_apn = '1234-567-890' AND county_fips = '06073';

Both fields are in every record — see the data dictionary.

Look up one parcel live

Each dataset record also has a stable id that's a live endpoint on Straply's API, so you can fetch a single parcel's current record without downloading a file.

Frequently asked

Can I search property records by parcel number?

Yes — filter the dataset's parcel_apn field, paired with county_fips (APNs are only unique within a county). Both fields are included on every property record.

Where do I find a property's APN?

It's on the property tax bill and deed, and searchable by address on the county assessor or property-appraiser website.

Why isn't the APN unique on its own?

Counties assign APNs independently, so the same number can appear in different counties. Combine parcel_apn with the 5-digit county FIPS code for a nationally-unique key.
Look up a single parcel live
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