It’s easier than ever for you to bring location data to life. When you provide a geographic visualization to your website, news story, or sales process, you uncover additional meaning. And just about everything has a useful location context.

Anyone can put some markers on places, thanks to the abundance of mapping apps available. You have many different types of maps now at your fingertips. In some cases, you can change marker colors, overlay heatmaps, and filter by data about each place. However, all these features also add more complications: how do you choose which to use and how do you know if it does what you need? Whether you’re a seasoned cartographer or just starting your mapping journey, we’ve compiled a list of 2024’s top mapping apps to help you find the perfect fit for your needs.

1. BatchGeo: Best for Entirely Customizable Google Maps

View Example Sales Map in a full screen map

BatchGeo sets itself apart as a user-friendly mapping tool that relies on the robust infrastructure of Google Maps, distinguishing it from many competitors in the market. With its user-friendly bulk mapping capabilities, BatchGeo caters to the needs of businesses and individuals alike, providing a convenient way to create interactive maps efficiently.

Ranking #1 in both satisfaction and popularity from G2’s 2023 GIS Software Awards, the platform’s integration with Google Maps offers users a familiar and dependable interface for their mapping endeavors.

Furthermore, BatchGeo’s complimentary plan is a notable advantage, granting access to a range of features that are typically reserved for premium subscriptions.

BatchGeo also enables seamless sharing of maps, allowing users to distribute them publicly or privately. Its diverse functionalities, such as creating heat maps, along with customizable map bases, marker shapes, and colors, enhance its adaptability.

For users seeking even more advanced customization options, BatchGeo offers a paid subscription that unlocks 100,000 markers per map, measurement and routing features, and more for you and a team of 10 users for one low price.

We recommend you start a BatchGeo trial and compare it to one or more of the options below.

2. Mapline: Best for the Basics

Mapline, like the others on our list, lets you mark places on a map. Its in-house map looks quite a bit different than Google’s, though Mapline adds routes and territories, as well as measurement features.

The Geospatial starter plan provides a sampling of the company’s mapping tools. It allows you to create maps, plot locations, and explore Mapline basics. You can only upload up to two datasets with 500 locations each, but you’ll be able to create territory and heat maps and draw a coverage radius.

Beyond its basic maps, Mapline has enterprise products for analytics, dispatching, scheduling, and operations. The pricing and functionality for these products are only available from Mapline Sales.

Nevertheless, the self-serve option is worth a test drive, if only to see how to create and navigate the maps. Some users find Mapline less user-friendly, with its interface a bit confusing compared to the next top mapping app. The paid products may provide a more focused offering, but you’ll want to make sure the underlying map does what you need.

3. Maptive: Best for Complicated Territory Maps

Maptive is a simple and easy-to-use choice for online mapping. It provides the basics we’ve come to expect from web mapping, like creating and sharing maps effortlessly.

If you’re looking for complicated sales territories, you’ll want to try Maptive. It has polygon-drawing features to create territories, map geographic boundaries, and color-code each area. It adds heat maps, demographics data, and distance and drive time calculations.

To get the most out of Maptive’s most complicated features, you’ll likely need a team account, which is at least $5,000 annually for 10 seats. You’ll find a 10-day free trial to see if it works for your needs. Unless you need the complicated territories, this pricing may be a bit on the higher side. On the other hand, if you need GIS-level mapping needs, you might prefer to look at one of the next two options.

4. Maptitude: Best for Offline Use

Maptitude is firstly a desktop application to create maps. There are options to take these maps online, but much of the customization needs to happen on your computer. There are advantages to this approach, such as bringing external geographic data to your maps.

Another advantage of a desktop tool is that Maptitude enables you to create and view maps whether you’re connected to the internet or not. In fact, Maptitude’s examples focus on static visualizations, which you can share as images.

There is a Maptitude free trial to get you started, so you can answer for yourself if it solves your mapping problem. The pricing isn’t as simple as web-based software, with a number of options based on your needs. The entry point for the desktop software is $695 per user for a year of access.

5. ESRI ArcGIS Online: Best for Versatility

As the undisputed industry standard for cartography, we couldn’t wrap up our list of the top apps without mentioning ESRI ArcGIS Online. The well-known software caters to businesses and individuals that need robust spatial analysis and map creation tools. ESRI ArcGIS Online stands out for its unparalleled versatility, offering a comprehensive suite of features used by professional GIS engineers worldwide. From precise geolocation to advanced analytics, it is the primary tool for those who need maximum map customization beyond what’s possible with Google Maps.

ESRI ArcGIS’s downside lies in its steep learning curve, which often demands a large time investment. Additionally, its cost may pose a challenge, especially when compared to lower-cost alternatives that solve the most common mapping problems with web-based maps.

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When it comes to mapping apps, there are many options. Mapline, Maptitude, Maptive, and ESRI ArcGIS Online all are excellent choices for specific needs. However, BatchGeo stands out among the most user-friendly and intuitive, thanks to its seamless integration with the familiar Google Maps platform and customization features that go beyond what Google Maps offers, all without the need for coding knowledge.

Give BatchGeo a try now and make Google Maps work for you – with faster geocoding, route optimization, password protection, 10 users at no additional cost, PDF support, and more.

What’s your personal motto? By definition, a motto is a phrase intended to formally describe the general motivation or intention of an organization or individual. Ours might be “Make a map from your data,” while the motto of the United States is “In God We Trust.” The U.S.’s is much more official, as it was proclaimed by Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.

The nation as a whole aside, most U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and three territories have their own mottos, which can sometimes be found on state seals, flags, or even quarters.

So, looking at our motto map, let’s figure out the states with more than one, their languages, and the oldest of the bunch.

View U.S. State Mottos in a full screen map

Which States Have More than One Motto?

Every U.S. state has at least one motto, though several states have multiple.

South Carolina is one of the four states with two official mottos: “Dum spiro spero” and “Animis opibusque parati.” Both are in Latin, though they can be translated to:

While I breathe, I hope

Ready in soul and resource

Kentucky also has two state mottos, one in Latin (“Deo gratiam habeamus” or “Let us be grateful to God”) and the other in English (“United we stand, divided we fall”).

The same goes for North Dakota and Vermont. North Dakota’s “Serit ut alteri saeclo prosit,” means “One sows for the benefit of another age” while its second English motto is “Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable.” Vermont’s Latin motto is “Stella quarta decima fulgeat” or “May the fourteenth star shine bright,” followed by “Freedom and Unity.”

Except for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, which are, unfortunately, motto-less, all other U.S. states and territories have one motto, though they’re in a variety of languages.

The 9 Languages of U.S. State Mottos

The 54 U.S. states and territories have 58 mottos in nine languages. Here’s the breakdown:

• Latin: 26 states
• English: 25
• Chinook Jargon: 1
• French: 1
• Greek: 1
• Hawaiian: 1
• Italian: 1
• Samoan: 1
• Spanish: 1

Latin is the most-used language for state mottos, used by 26 states and territories, including the previously mentioned South Carolina, Kentucky, North Dakota, and Vermont. Also among those with a Latin motto is the District of Columbia (“Justitia Omnibus” or “Justice for all.”)

Meanwhile, the number of English state mottos isn’t far behind, especially in the Midwest (12 states). This includes Wisconsin’s, which is simply, “Forward.”

That leaves just seven states and territories that use another language for their motto, of which each is only used once. Chinook Jargon is the language of Washington’s state motto, which translates to “By and by” in English. Minnesota, California, Hawaii, and Maryland’s mottos are in French, Greek, Hawaiian, and Italian, respectively. Then there’s the Samoan motto for American Samoa and Spanish for Montana.

You can group the map by “Language” to learn more because we’re moving onto the age of these mottos.

The Oldest State Mottos

For most state mottos on the map, the year indicates the earliest date they were officially used. These range from as recent as 2015 to as old as 1511, so let’s take a closer look at the oldest among these in the table below:

Jurisdiction	Motto	Year
Puerto Rico	Joannes Est Nomen Ejus	1511
Connecticut	Qui transtulit sustinet	1662
Rhode Island	Hope	1664
Massachusetts	Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem	1775
Virginia	Sic semper tyrannis	1776
South Carolina	Dum spiro spero	1777
South Carolina	Animis opibusque parati	1777
New York	Excelsior	1778
Vermont	Freedom and Unity	1779
Georgia	Wisdom, Justice, Moderation	1798

The earliest use of a current motto is that of Puerto Rico’s “Joannes est nomen ejus”, which was granted to the island by the Spanish back in 1511. State-side, Connecticut has the oldest motto, “Qui transtulit sustinet,” first used in October 1662.

Of course, it’s no surprise that aside from Puerto Rico, the oldest among these are located in the East, both in the North (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York) and South (Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia).

To learn more about the U.S., we’ve created a flashcard map to help you master each state’s capital, flower, and bird.

Dever, Colorado gets its “Mile High City” nickname for being 5,280 feet above sea level: exactly one mile. When the average elevation of the United States is 2,500 feet, that may seem high. Yet nearly 350 U.S. towns and cities have higher elevations than Denver, more than 115 of which are even located in Colorado.

So let’s highlight places such as Alma, Montezuma, and Leadville, Colorado that don’t have well-known nicknames pertaining to their elevation. The average of these ​​346 places with higher elevations than Denver is 6,649 feet. And the highest among these? It’s almost two miles above sea level.

View Highest U.S. Elevation Cities in a full screen map

The 10 Highest Elevation Cities Are All Above 9,500 Feet

At over 5,000 feet, all of the 346 U.S. towns and cities on the map are already among the highest in elevation. Yet the 10 places that top even these are even more impressive. So let’s take a look at the 10 cities in the U.S. with the highest elevation.

• Alma, Colorado – 10,361 feet
• Montezuma, Colorado – 10,312
• Leadville, Colorado – 10,158
• Blue River, Colorado – 10,037
• Fairplay, Colorado – 9,953
• Brian Head, Utah – 9,800
• Victor, Colorado – 9,708
• Ophir, Colorado – 9,695
• Breckenridge, Colorado – 9,603
• Mountain Village, Colorado – 9,600

The 313 residents of Alma, Colorado live in the highest city or town in the U.S. Alma’s 10,361 feet (3,158 meters) elevation is just shy of 2 miles, which is perhaps why it isn’t referred to as the “Two Mile High City.” However, when only administrative boundaries are taken into account, instead of settled areas, the municipality of Winter Park, Colorado becomes the highest incorporated town due to its annexation of a ski area in 2006.

Regardless, Alma (and Winter Park) are far from the only places in Colorado with higher-than-average elevations in the top 10. Eight more Coloradian cities have elevations that range from 10,312 to 9,600 feet, not to mention the 110 other cities in Colorado with elevations higher than Denver.

And then there’s Brian Head, Utah, located at 9,800 feet (2,987 meters). It’s the only town outside of Colorado with an elevation in the top 10. Fittingly, Utah is also home to the second-most high-elevation cities (94). That’s followed by New Mexico (53), Wyoming (45), Arizona (13), Idaho (10), California (4), Montana (3), Nevada (2), South Dakota (1), Oregon (1), and North Carolina (1).

Be sure you check out the high-elevation cities in these states on the map before we move on to the temperatures of some of these cities.

Temperatures in the Highest Elevation Cities Average Are Just Over Freezing

More than just being the highest elevation towns and cities, sitting so far from sea level means these places can get pretty cold. While there was only data for 11 locations (all near the top 20), these temperatures are worth noting, especially as some could rank among the most extreme temps.

Freezing starts at 32 °F—and these 11 towns and cities average just above that at 35.5 °F:

City	State	Elevation (ft)	Average yearly temp (°F)	Average yearly temp (°C)
Alma	Colorado	10,361	32.4	0.2
Breckenridge	Colorado	9,603	33.5	0.8
Dillon	Colorado	9,111	34.9	1.6
Fairplay	Colorado	9,953	35	1.7
Leadville	Colorado	10,158	35.1	1.7
Ophir	Colorado	9,695	35.1	1.7
Silverton	Colorado	9,318	35.3	1.8
Brian Head	Utah	9,800	35.6	2
Silverthorne	Colorado	9,035	35.7	2.1
Montezuma	Colorado	10,312	37.5	3.1
Victor	Colorado	9,708	39.9	4.4

Once again, Alma tops the charts. The average yearly temperature of the #1 highest-elevation town in the U.S. is just .4 °F above freezing.

But that’s where the similarities to our previous rankings, based on elevation, end. The second coldest high-elevation place is Breckenridge, Colorado, which averages 33.5 °F each year. As you might recall, Breckenridge was only ninth in elevation.

Meanwhile, Dillon, Colorado is a brand new mention. Though the 17th highest elevated town, it’s home to the third coldest average yearly temperatures (34.9 °F).

You’ll have to check out the other temps on the map.

The Lowest Summit Is Still Higher than the Highest Town

While it’s clear Colorado is home to the highest towns and cities places, Alaska is the destination for the highest mountains.

No town nor city on our map surpasses any of the 200 highest summits in the U.S. The lowest is 11,916 feet (Charleston Peak in Nevada), 1,555 feet higher than Alma, Colorado.

Check out these massive mounts on our map of the highest United States summits.