ParcelQuest
ParcelQuest is a Folsom, California-based SaaS provider of daily-updated county assessor parcel data for all 13 million parcels across 58 California counties, serving real estate, title, government, legal, survey, utility, and agriculture customers via web, mobile, bulk FTP, and ArcGIS-integrated delivery under tiered subscriptions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1995
- HeadquartersFolsom, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What ParcelQuest does
ParcelQuest is a Folsom, California-based SaaS provider of standardized, daily-updated property data for all 58 California counties and approximately 13 million parcels, operating since 1995 as the successor to Microfiche Publishers (founded 1963 by David Mulligan; re-established by Grant Mulligan). The company aggregates parcel, ownership, assessment, sales, recorded-document, zoning, and tax-bill data sourced directly from county assessors and federal/state agencies (CalFire, FEMA, USGS, USDA, CEMA, California Coastal Commission), normalizes it into a single schema, and exposes it through a web platform (PQ Online), a GPS-enabled mobile app, bulk FTP deliverables, and an ArcGIS-hosted feature service (ParcelQuest Gateway). Product features include parcel search across 13 million parcels, high-resolution APN maps, an extensive hazard/environmental visual-layer library (flood, fire, seismic, soils, topography, dam inundation), property owner identification with a Change Notification Service, recorded document purchase, exports/reports, and a parcel-specific zoning module (PQ Zoning) launched in 2023.
The company monetizes via a three-tiered subscription — Pilot ($99.95 for 7 days), Navigator ($199.95/month), and Aviator ($249.95/month) — supplemented by per-document fees ($5.00), per-report fees ($19.95), per-shape-file exports ($3-5), recurring bulk data contracts delivered via FTP, and custom-quoted enterprise deployments including the Esri-integrated Gateway product and Federal/State/Municipal agency subscriptions. Go-to-market is primarily sales-led (toll-free phone, consultative enterprise sales, custom quotes) with a self-serve website checkout for individual subscriptions and channel partnerships with California Realtor associations serving the real estate investor and agent segments. Customers span real estate, title insurance, law, surveying, government, utilities, oil & gas, agriculture, fire services, construction, and appraisal use cases.
ParcelQuest is a private, founder-owned company (no disclosed external funding, no parent company) with 11-50 employees, headquartered at 193 Blue Ravine Road, Suite 120, Folsom, CA. Its principal competitive position is as the sole daily-update provider of county-assessor-verified parcel data across the entire state, differentiating against competitors that key data from recorded documents and refresh annually.
ParcelQuest firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ParcelQuest
- Legal name
- ParcelQuest
- Website
- https://parcelquest.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1995
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- ParcelQuest is a Folsom, California-based SaaS provider of daily-updated county assessor parcel data for all 13 million parcels across 58 California counties, serving real estate, title, government, legal, survey, utility, and agriculture customers via web, mobile, bulk FTP, and ArcGIS-integrated delivery under tiered subscriptions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where ParcelQuest is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Folsom
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
ParcelQuest business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription SaaS (PQ Online): Three-tiered subscription service (Pilot, Navigator, Aviator) providing web-based access to parcel data, maps, and reports. Billed monthly or annually. Navigator at $199.95/month and Aviator at $249.95/month. Pilot is $99.95 for 7-day access. Annual billing offers a free 13th month.
- Recorded Document Sales: Individual recorded documents (grant deeds, quit claims, etc.) sold at $5.00 per document across all subscription tiers.
- Transaction History Reports (add-on): Full transaction history reports available for $19.95 per report for Pilot and Navigator subscribers. Included free with Aviator subscription.
- Shape File Exports (add-on): Parcel boundary shape file exports at $3.00 each (ownership data) or $5.00 each (ownership plus characteristics). Aviator subscribers receive 15 free shape file exports per month.
- Bulk Data / FTP Downloads: One-time or recurring bulk parcel data downloads for county or statewide datasets, with update frequencies (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual). Custom quotes for large data orders.
- ParcelQuest Gateway (Esri Integration): Enterprise Esri integration product delivered as a hosted feature layer. Custom pricing based on organizational size and use case. Accessed by ArcGIS Online users via group sharing or Enterprise users via ArcGIS Server credentials.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Pilot — 7-day access for casual or trial users |
| Subscription | Monthly | Navigator — Monthly subscription for power users |
| Subscription | Monthly | Aviator — Premium subscription with all features included |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
ParcelQuest product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ParcelQuest delivers a SaaS platform providing authoritative, daily-updated California county assessor parcel data for all 58 counties and 13 million parcels. Customers access parcel search, APN maps, ownership, sales history, zoning, recorded documents, tax data, visual hazard layers, and bulk data exports through a web browser, mobile app, ArcGIS integration (ParcelQuest Gateway), or FTP-based bulk downloads. The platform is sold via tiered subscriptions (Pilot, Navigator, Aviator), per-transaction fees, and custom-quoted enterprise and government agreements.
Product overview
ParcelQuest is a property data platform built around its core PQ Online web application, which provides comprehensive parcel search and data access for all 13 million parcels across California's 58 counties. The platform operates on a tiered subscription model (Pilot, Navigator, Aviator) that gates access to increasingly advanced features. Key add-on modules include PQ Zoning (zoning codes matched to parcel layers), APN Maps (high-resolution assessor parcel maps), Area Maps & Visual Layers (interactive maps with drawing tools and hazard/environmental layer library), Property Owners (ownership search and change notifications), Exports & Reports (data export and PDF reporting), Recorded Documents (document purchase), Bulk Data (FTP data file delivery), and PQ Mobile App (field access). ParcelQuest Gateway provides Esri integration by streaming the same parcel data as a feature service directly into ArcGIS Online and Enterprise environments.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- PQ Online Web-based SaaS platform providing access to parcel data for all 13 million parcels across 58 California counties, with daily updates from county assessors. Delivers parcel search, APN maps, ownership information, sales history, zoning, recorded documents, tax data, visual hazard layers, and bulk exports under tiered subscriptions (Pilot, Navigator, Aviator).
- Bulk Data Files Standardized bulk parcel data files delivered via FTP download by county or statewide with monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual update options. Data modules include ownership, sales, property characteristics, exemptions, tax bill and payment data, unsecured roll, and centroid coordinates. Includes closed roll data often available before official county release.
- ParcelQuest Gateway for ArcGIS Enterprise Esri integration that streams continuously updated parcel boundaries, owner names, addresses, and characteristics as a hosted feature layer into ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise. Data is current within 24 hours of most assessors' internal systems and harmonized across all 58 California counties with correct projection. Custom-pricing based on organization size and use case.
- PQ Mobile App GPS-enabled mobile application providing field access to property data, including owner name and property characteristics, the layer library with crop and fire hazard overlays, area outlining, and tagging/notes/photos. Available with the Aviator subscription tier.
Quantifiable outcome
- Saves weeks of work on annexation analysis — accomplished in days with ParcelQuest (per Southern Coachella Valley Community Services District testimonial)
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use ParcelQuest
Customer profileNamed customers27 records
Segments12 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
ParcelQuest technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature12 records
ParcelQuest partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Esri (Environmental Systems Research Institute)coreParcelQuest Gateway is an Esri Partner Network Bronze member product, delivering parcel data as a hosted feature layer within the ArcGIS ecosystem. Data is streamed directly into ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise environments, allowing GIS users to access continuously updated California parcel data without leaving their mapping environment.
- Realtor Associations (California)coreParcelQuest partners with several realtor associations around California to provide PQ Online to their members through a simple access link, offering group pricing to association members.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
ParcelQuest competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- CoStar Group: Dominant commercial real estate data and analytics platform (LoopNet, Apartments.com). Adjacent to ParcelQuest's CRE and investor customer base, with vastly larger scale, multi-channel products, and enterprise sales motion.
- Black Knight: Mortgage and real estate technology and data company (now part of ICE). Provides property data, analytics, and workflow tools to lenders, servicers, and government — overlapping with ParcelQuest's enterprise and government customer segments at much greater scale.
- CoreLogic (ICE Mortgage Technology): Industry-leading property data and analytics platform owned by Intercontinental Exchange. Offers parcel-level data, ownership, and valuation insights used by title, mortgage, and government customers — overlapping with ParcelQuest's market but at massively greater scale and breadth.
Direct peers
- Reonomy (LightBox): Commercial property intelligence platform owned by LightBox, providing parcel and ownership data for CRE investors, brokers, and lenders. Comparable in target market (commercial real estate) and data offering, but with national coverage and modern API-first product.
- DataTree (by First American): First American's property data platform providing parcel reports, ownership data, and recorded documents. Closely comparable in feature set (parcel search, document retrieval, reports) to ParcelQuest's PQ Online, with national coverage.
- ATTOM Data Solutions: National property data aggregator offering parcel data, ownership, sales history, and analytics across all U.S. states. Directly competes with ParcelQuest's core data business, but ATTOM operates at national scale versus ParcelQuest's California focus.
- LandVision (by LightBox/Digital Map Products): Parcel mapping and property intelligence platform from LightBox, offering parcel boundaries, ownership, and visual layers similar to ParcelQuest. The closest direct comparison in terms of GIS-centric parcel mapping workflows for surveyors, appraisers, and government.
Emerging players
- MapRight: GIS-based land mapping platform for real estate, agriculture, and land professionals. Offers parcel data, visual layers, and drawing tools similar to ParcelQuest's Area Maps and Visual Layers feature, with a modern SaaS UX and national coverage.
- Estated: Property data API provider delivering nationwide parcel and property data via developer-friendly endpoints. Competes with ParcelQuest on data access but via a pure API model that contrasts with ParcelQuest's web/FTP-first delivery.
Others
- Parcel Lab (formerly ParcelLab): Note: included for awareness only — ParcelLab is a post-purchase customer experience platform for e-commerce shipping, not a direct property/parcel data peer. Its name overlaps with ParcelQuest's 'parcel' branding but the business is unrelated (CEP/experience management vs. land parcel data).
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
ParcelQuest social profiles
Digital presenceParcelQuest financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ParcelQuest leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
ParcelQuest funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ParcelQuest M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ParcelQuest
What does ParcelQuest do?
ParcelQuest delivers a SaaS platform providing authoritative, daily-updated California county assessor parcel data for all 58 counties and 13 million parcels. Customers access parcel search, APN maps, ownership, sales history, zoning, recorded documents, tax data, visual hazard layers, and bulk data exports through a web browser, mobile app, ArcGIS integration (ParcelQuest Gateway), or FTP-based bulk downloads. The platform is sold via tiered subscriptions (Pilot, Navigator, Aviator), per-transaction fees, and custom-quoted enterprise and government agreements.
Is ParcelQuest a public or private company?
ParcelQuest is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was ParcelQuest founded?
ParcelQuest was founded in 1995. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is ParcelQuest based?
ParcelQuest is headquartered in Folsom, United States, in the North America region.
How does ParcelQuest make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Subscription SaaS (PQ Online) is the primary driver. The others are recorded Document Sales, transaction History Reports (add-on), shape File Exports (add-on), bulk Data / FTP Downloads and parcelQuest Gateway (Esri Integration).
Who are ParcelQuest's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are CoStar Group, Black Knight and CoreLogic (ICE Mortgage Technology). Direct peers are Reonomy (LightBox), DataTree (by First American), ATTOM Data Solutions and LandVision (by LightBox/Digital Map Products). Emerging players are MapRight and Estated. Parcel Lab (formerly ParcelLab) is listed as an others.
Does ParcelQuest have an API?
No public API is recorded for ParcelQuest.