Understanding Philadelphia’s Atlas Tool: What It Can and Can’t Tell You About Your Property
Whether you’re buying, selling, renovating, or just curious about your home in Philadelphia, the City’s Atlas tool is one of the most powerful and accessible resources available. Atlas.phila.gov is a free, map-based system that aggregates city data from multiple departments into one interactive platform, giving residents a window into key information about any property in the city.
In this guide, we’ll walk through everything you can (and can’t) learn about your property on Atlas, why it matters, and how we at Jane Draws Plans use this tool in every project we support.
What Is Philadelphia’s Atlas Tool?
Philadelphia’s Atlas is the city’s all-in-one property and geographic information system. It combines data from key city departments, including Property Assessment, Licenses & Inspections, Planning & Development, and the Department of Records, into an interactive map interface. Atlas gives you the power to search by:
Address
Block & lot
Department of Records registry number
Map click selection
This means you can zoom, click, and explore data tied to almost any parcel in Philadelphia.
Information You Can Find on Atlas
Atlas gives you a snapshot of nearly every official data layer related to a property. Here’s what’s available:
1. Property Assessment & Sales History
Find the city’s most recent assessed value, property description (building size, land area), and historic sales data, essential for buyers and sellers to understand value trends. These come directly from the Office of Property Assessment.
2. Owner & Deed Information
Atlas shows recorded property owners, deed details, and legal parcels. You can confirm ownership and see historical changes in the title.
3. Zoning Information
Atlas displays the current zoning base district and any overlays impacting your property. This tells you what uses are permitted and helps you understand the regulatory context before exploring renovations or new builds.
4. Licenses & Inspections History
This is one of Atlas’s most valuable features:
Building permits
Violations and inspection history
Certificate of Occupancy status
Recent updates even allow direct download of full Notice of Violation Reports, providing transparency into code enforcement actions tied to properties. Some properties have scanned paperwork from pre-internet days and other properties require a “right to know request” to be submitted to gain access to older documents.
5. Permits and Certificates
Atlas links to permit records and license history, showing what approvals have been issued and if anything is outstanding.
6. Map Layers & Geographic Context
Beyond individual properties, Atlas lets you overlay data such as:
Nearby 311 requests
Vacant properties
Crime incident data
Aerial imagery (current + historical)
Street-level views
This geographic context helps you understand your neighborhood’s patterns and pressures in addition to your own property’s details.
Data Atlas Doesn’t Provide
Atlas is incredibly useful, but it’s important to know its limitations so you don’t rely on it for every decision:
1. Private Building Plans & Construction Drawings
Atlas doesn’t host detailed architectural or engineering drawings (e.g., blueprints, structural plans). For those, you need to request files directly from the Department of Records or visit the Permit & License Center.
2. Zoned Use Interpretations
While Atlas shows zoning designations, it doesn’t interpret what you can legally build, like how the code applies to a specific renovation.
3. Comprehensive Environmental / Soil Data
Environmental conditions, such as soil reports, flood risk analyses, or contamination history, are not included in Atlas and require separate datasets or specialized tools.
4. Private Market Valuations
Atlas shows the City’s assessed values and sales history, but it does not provide real-time market appraisals or predictive pricing models, tools offered by commercial real estate platforms.
5. Future Project Approvals
Atlas shows permits and past approvals, but it doesn’t tell you if a future application will be approved, only that certain permits were issued in the past.
Why Atlas Is Such a Valuable Tool
For homeowners, buyers, designers, and developers, Atlas represents a single gateway to otherwise fragmented city data:
Transparent property history - no more calling multiple departments.
Zoning clarity - helps you understand the regulatory context before purchase or design.
Inspection & violation insight - crucial for due diligence and risk assessment.
Neighborhood context - understand what’s happening around your property.
How We Use Atlas at Jane Draws Plans
At Jane Draws Plans, Atlas is one of our first stops on every project. When we begin working with a client, whether it’s a renovation, addition, or full home design, we use Atlas to:
Confirm property ownership and legal description
Check zoning classification and overlays
Review past permits and inspections
Identify any active violations that might affect design or permitting
This early research helps us diagnose potential regulatory hurdles before design begins, helping projects run more smoothly and avoid costly surprises.
Conclusion
If you live in Philadelphia, Atlas.phila.gov is one of the city’s most underutilized yet essential tools for understanding your property’s official record. It democratizes access to data that was once siloed across departments, and it’s completely free.
From property assessment and zoning to violations and neighborhood context, Atlas provides a wealth of information, just know its limits when it comes to detailed construction documents, environmental analyses, and interpretive zoning decisions.
For homeowners and design professionals alike, mastering Atlas can save time, reduce risk, and make informed decisions about your most valuable asset: your home.
