OpenStreetMap US
OpenStreetMap US is a nonprofit local chapter of the OpenStreetMap Foundation that supports and grows the OpenStreetMap project in the United States, stewarding open mapping tools, charter projects, and educational programs for volunteer mappers, government agencies, and enterprise members.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What OpenStreetMap US does
OpenStreetMap US is a US-based nonprofit organization, founded in 2010 and incorporated as an official local chapter of the OpenStreetMap Foundation in October 2020, that supports and grows the OpenStreetMap project within the United States. The organization's core work centers on stewarding a portfolio of open mapping tools and programs that serve volunteer mappers, educational institutions, government agencies, and commercial users. Its core tools include MapRoulette (gamified micro-tasking for data quality), OSMCha (changeset validation), the OSM US Tileservice (free vector tiles, generally available since September 2025), and Tasking Manager (campaign coordination), with supporting tools such as Field Papers, Layercake, OpenTrailMap, and Public Domain Map. Charter Projects (OpenHistoricalMap, YouthMappers, Yesterdays) and Community Projects (Americana, SliceOSM, OSM Merge) extend the portfolio, while TeachOSM and Mapping for Impact drive educational and social-impact engagement.
The underlying technology is built on the OpenStreetMap collaborative platform, which uses crowd-sourced mapping under the Open Database License (ODbL) and aggregates over 7 billion geographic features contributed by a global volunteer community. OSM US distributes this data and its derivative tools freely via self-serve channels. Revenue is generated through a tiered membership model (individual memberships plus Strategic, Associate, and Community Organizational Members including Esri, National Park Service, Overture Maps Foundation, USDOT BTS, Meta, TomTom, Mapbox, Lyft, and T-Kartor), direct donations (including from Craigslist Charitable Fund and 1% for the Planet), paid event registrations (State of the Map US, Mapping USA), and a small Swag Store. The go-to-market is community-led, relying on a Slack workspace, conferences, newsletters, educational programs, and microgrant funding rather than a traditional sales motion.
OpenStreetMap US firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- OpenStreetMap US
- Legal name
- OpenStreetMap US
- Website
- https://openstreetmap.us
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- OpenStreetMap US is a nonprofit local chapter of the OpenStreetMap Foundation that supports and grows the OpenStreetMap project in the United States, stewarding open mapping tools, charter projects, and educational programs for volunteer mappers, government agencies, and enterprise members.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
OpenStreetMap US industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Open Geospatial Data Platform
- NAICS
- Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Open-Source & Developer Communities (BPAMABAM)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Developer & Open-Source Communities (MPACAJAK)
Keywords
Where OpenStreetMap US is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
OpenStreetMap US business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Individual Memberships: Annual membership fees from individual supporters who contribute to the organization's mission of supporting OpenStreetMap in the US.
- Organizational Memberships: Strategic, associate, and community organizational memberships from companies and government agencies including Esri, National Park Service, Overture Maps Foundation, USDOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Meta, TomTom, Mapbox, Lyft, and others.
- Donations: Direct donations from supporters, including partnerships with organizations like the Craigslist Charitable Fund and 1% for the Planet.
- Event Registrations: Revenue from conferences including State of the Map US and Mapping USA events.
- Swag Store: Sales of official OSM US merchandise through the Swag Store.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
OpenStreetMap US product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OpenStreetMap US is a nonprofit organization that supports and grows the OpenStreetMap project in the United States. It maintains and operates a portfolio of open-source mapping tools and platforms — MapRoulette, OSMCha, OSM US Tileservice, Field Papers, Layercake, OpenTrailMap, and Public Domain Map — along with charter projects (OpenHistoricalMap, YouthMappers, Yesterdays) and community projects that enable crowd-sourced, open-licensed geographic data creation, validation, and visualization. Revenue comes from individual and organizational memberships, donations, paid event registrations, and merchandise sales.
Product overview
OpenStreetMap US is a nonprofit organization that serves as the US chapter of the OpenStreetMap Foundation, supporting and growing the OpenStreetMap project. Rather than a single unified product, it offers a portfolio of interconnected mapping tools and programs. The core tools include MapRoulette (gamified mapping challenges), OSMCha (changeset validation), and the OSM US Tileservice (vector tile infrastructure). Supporting tools include Field Papers (field-based data collection), Layercake (thematic data extracts), OpenTrailMap (trail mapping), and Public Domain Map (authoritative data bridging). The organization also hosts Charter Projects (OpenHistoricalMap, YouthMappers, Yesterdays) and Community Projects (Americana map style, SliceOSM). Educational initiatives include TeachOSM and Mapping for Impact community partnerships. The portfolio is tied together by the Tasking Manager for campaign coordination and Slack for community communication.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap is the free, editable map of the world.
- MapRoulette
- OSMCha
- Field Papers
- OSM US Tileservice
- Layercake
- OpenTrailMap
- Public Domain Map
- TeachOSM
Products and services
- MapRoulette A gamified mapping challenge platform that allows users to create and complete mini mapping challenges to improve OpenStreetMap data quality, serving as a community-powered quality assurance tool.
- OSMCha The OpenStreetMap Changeset Analyzer — an online tool for validating and reviewing OSM edits, positioned as the ultimate OpenStreetMap validator.
- OSM US Tileservice Free vector tiles and related resources needed to create interactive maps, providing open tile-rendering infrastructure for the OpenStreetMap ecosystem.
- Field Papers A pen-and-paper mapping workflow that allows mappers to print maps, collect field data offline, and upload annotations for digitization into OpenStreetMap.
- Layercake Thematic extracts of OpenStreetMap data delivered in cloud-native file formats, providing the lay of the land on OSM trail data.
- OpenTrailMap Specialized platform providing solutions for responsible trail mapping, helping map outdoor recreational trails within OpenStreetMap.
- Public Domain Map A bridge database that enables organizations to crowdsource authoritative map data and produce format- and license-compatible output with OpenStreetMap, bridging the open data gap for cases where ODbL licensing is not suitable.
- Tasking Manager A collaborative platform for organizing mapping campaigns and coordinating volunteer contributions via task distribution and validation workflows.
- OpenHistoricalMap A Charter Project of OpenStreetMap US building historical cartography by emphasizing historical features and data on a separate map style.
- YouthMappers A Charter Project engaging youth in open mapping through university chapters worldwide and coordinating student mapping initiatives.
- Yesterdays A Charter Project of OpenStreetMap US focused on placing historical images on the map.
- Americana A community project providing a quintessentially American map style using OpenStreetMap data.
- SliceOSM A community project providing fresh OpenStreetMap data extracts on demand.
- OSM Merge A community project for merging and combining OpenStreetMap data into unified datasets.
- TeachOSM An educational program providing resources and curriculum support to bring open mapping into classrooms and teach geography and GIS skills.
- Mapping for Impact A program of targeted mapping initiatives for community partners addressing specific social and environmental challenges.
- OpenWetlandsMap A collaborative mapping initiative focused on wetlands, developed in partnership with the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) and announced May 2026.
Companies that use OpenStreetMap US
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
OpenStreetMap US technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature8 records
OpenStreetMap US partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- EsricoreEsri, a major GIS software company, is a Strategic Organizational Member of OpenStreetMap US. Esri integrates OpenStreetMap data into their ArcGIS platform and supports the OSM community through various initiatives including joint Mappy Hours and events.
- National Park ServicecoreThe National Park Service joined as a Strategic Organizational Member in September 2024, using OpenStreetMap for public lands mapping and visitor services.
- Overture Maps FoundationcoreOverture Maps Foundation, which joined as a Strategic member in January 2026, is building open authoritative map data standards and works collaboratively with OSM US.
- USDOT Bureau of Transportation StatisticscoreThe Bureau of Transportation Statistics was the first Strategic Organizational Member (announced August 2023), using OpenStreetMap for transportation data and statistics.
- MetacoreMeta joined as a Strategic member in August 2024, leveraging OpenStreetMap data across their platforms and contributing to the OSM ecosystem.
- MapboxsupportingMapbox is a Supporter member, providing mapping infrastructure and collaborating on various OSM initiatives.
- LyftsupportingLyft joined as an Associate Member in March 2026, using OpenStreetMap data for routing and mapping in their transportation services.
- Environmental Policy Innovation CentercoreEPIC partnered with OSM US in May 2026 to launch OpenWetlandsMap, a collaborative project for mapping wetlands data using OpenStreetMap.
- MapillarysupportingMapillary has collaborated with OSM US on the CompleteTheMap US initiative and Camera Grant programs to improve street-level imagery for mapping.
- YouthMapperscoreYouthMappers is a Charter Project of OSM US since December 2025, coordinating student mapping chapters at universities worldwide.
- OpenHistoricalMapcoreOpenHistoricalMap is a Charter Project of OSM US since May 2021, creating a map style emphasizing historical features and data.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
OpenStreetMap US competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Mapbox: Commercial mapping platform built on OpenStreetMap data; a Supporter member of OSM US and a direct commercial counterpart serving overlapping developer and enterprise customers.
- TomTom: Commercial mapping and navigation data provider; an Associate Member of OSM US and a financial backer of MapRoulette, operating in the same geographic-data market.
- Esri: Dominant GIS software company (ArcGIS) that integrates OpenStreetMap data; a Strategic Organizational Member of OSM US and a broad incumbent in the same mapping-data space.
Others
- Creative Commons: Nonprofit that defines open licensing frameworks including ODbL; adjacent ecosystem participant relevant to OSM US's licensing model and public-domain initiatives.
- Geofabrik: Commercial provider of OpenStreetMap data extracts, hosting, and consulting; a downstream ecosystem participant comparable to OSM US's Layercake and SliceOSM offerings.
- Wikimedia Foundation: Nonprofit steward of Wikipedia and open-knowledge community projects; structurally analogous as a member- and donor-supported open-community nonprofit with similar governance challenges.
- Open Knowledge Foundation: Global nonprofit promoting open data and open knowledge; thematically aligned with OSM US's open-data mission and government transparency positioning.
Direct peers
- Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT): Nonprofit that mobilizes volunteer mappers for humanitarian and development use cases; closely comparable nonprofit community-mapping model and OSM ecosystem overlap.
- Overture Maps Foundation: Industry collaborative building open map data standards and datasets; a Strategic Organizational Member of OSM US and direct collaborator on shared open-data goals.
- OpenStreetMap Foundation: Global nonprofit that owns the OpenStreetMap trademark and core infrastructure; OSM US operates as its official US local chapter with overlapping mission and member base.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
OpenStreetMap US social profiles
Digital presenceOpenStreetMap US financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
OpenStreetMap US leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
OpenStreetMap US funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
OpenStreetMap US 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 OpenStreetMap US
What does OpenStreetMap US do?
OpenStreetMap US is a nonprofit organization that supports and grows the OpenStreetMap project in the United States. It maintains and operates a portfolio of open-source mapping tools and platforms — MapRoulette, OSMCha, OSM US Tileservice, Field Papers, Layercake, OpenTrailMap, and Public Domain Map — along with charter projects (OpenHistoricalMap, YouthMappers, Yesterdays) and community projects that enable crowd-sourced, open-licensed geographic data creation, validation, and visualization. Revenue comes from individual and organizational memberships, donations, paid event registrations, and merchandise sales.
Is OpenStreetMap US a public or private company?
OpenStreetMap US is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was OpenStreetMap US founded?
OpenStreetMap US was founded in 2010. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is OpenStreetMap US based?
OpenStreetMap US is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does OpenStreetMap US make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Individual Memberships are the primary driver. The others are organizational Memberships, donations, event Registrations and swag Store.
Who are OpenStreetMap US's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Mapbox, TomTom and Esri. Others are Creative Commons, Geofabrik, Wikimedia Foundation and Open Knowledge Foundation. Direct peers are Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), Overture Maps Foundation and OpenStreetMap Foundation.
Does OpenStreetMap US have an API?
No public API is recorded for OpenStreetMap US.
What industry is OpenStreetMap US in?
OpenStreetMap US's product category is Open Geospatial Data Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMABAM, Open-Source & Developer Communities, with a secondary code of MPACAJAK, Developer & Open-Source Communities. Its NAICS code is 519290 and its SIC code is 8600.