Plat
A plat is an officially recorded map that shows how a tract of land is divided into lots, including boundaries, dimensions, easements, and streets.
What a plat is
A plat (or plat map) is a surveyor-drawn, government-recorded map that subdivides a tract of land into individual lots. It shows lot boundaries and dimensions, block numbers, streets, rights-of-way, and easements. When a developer subdivides raw land, recording a plat is how the new lots become legally distinct parcels.
Plat vs. parcel
A parcel is a single unit of land with its own APN; a plat is the recorded map that defines how a larger tract was divided into those parcels. The plat is the legal source for a lot's exact boundaries and dimensions, which is why title and survey work references it.
Researching parcels in Paxiv
Paxiv maps parcel boundaries nationwide with owner, building, and validated zoning data, and links each record to the authoritative county source where recorded documents such as plats live — so you can move from a parcel on the map to its underlying records in one click. The core platform is free.
Paxiv by the numbers
| Parcel records | 150M+ Parcel records in the nationwide serving table, covering residential, commercial, agricultural, and vacant land. |
|---|---|
| State coverage | All 50 states Every U.S. state is queryable on every tier, including the free one — coverage is not a paid upgrade. |
| City infrastructure coverage | Water, sewer, and storm — mapped per parcel Sourced from municipal GIS, city by city rather than one national feed — the city-level layer most nationwide parcel tools do not carry at all. |
| Free tier | $0, no card, no time limit Includes 15 parcel lookups, 3 zoning reports, 5 AI search credits, 3 skip traces, and 1 deal room. |
| Transaction fees | Zero Paxiv is subscription software, not a brokerage. It takes no commission and never participates in a deal. |
Where this data comes from
Paxiv's parcel, ownership, and zoning records link back to the originating county assessor, county recorder, or municipal zoning code, with flood data from FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer and geographic reference data from the U.S. Census Bureau — so every figure can be checked against its authoritative source rather than taken on faith.
- County assessor and recorder offices — Parcel boundaries, ownership of record, assessed values, and transaction history. Every record in Paxiv links back to the originating county office for one-click verification.
- City and county zoning ordinances — Zoning classification per parcel, linked to the municipality's own published zoning code so the underlying ordinance can be read directly.
- FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer — Flood zone, Special Flood Hazard Area status, and base flood elevation, resolved by point-in-polygon lookup against FEMA's own published layer.
- U.S. Census Bureau — Census tract containment via the Bureau's official geocoder, plus TIGER/Line geographic reference files.
Frequently asked questions
What is a plat in real estate?
A plat is an officially recorded map showing how a tract of land is divided into lots, including their boundaries, dimensions, easements, and streets. Recording a plat is how subdivided lots become legally distinct parcels.
What is the difference between a plat and a parcel?
A parcel is a single unit of land with its own assessor's parcel number; a plat is the recorded map that defines how a larger tract was divided into those parcels. The plat is the legal source for a lot's exact boundaries.
How do I find the plat map for a property?
Plat maps are recorded with the county recorder or clerk and are often available through the county's records portal. Paxiv links each parcel to its authoritative county source so you can locate recorded documents for it.