What is STAR*Map? The acronym STAR*Map is the trademarked name for the Southeast Texas Addressing and Referencing Map. Created and maintained by the Houston-Galveston Area Council and the Geographic Data Committee. STAR*Map is a digital basemap and database that covers a multi-county region, including all of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Walker,Waller, and Wharton Counties. STAR*Map includes more than 1.7 million parcel addresses and 13 counties street centerlines.
What is the cost of STAR*Map?
A single copy of STAR*Map or a current update released is $500.
What methods of payment are accepted?
You can pay with a check, purchase order, or credit card (Visa or Mastercard). Please make the check payable to: Houston-Galveston Area Council, purpose: STAR*Map and send it to:
Houston-Galveston Area Council
Data Services Department
3555 Timmons Lane, Suite 120
Houston, TX 77027
Are there shipping charges, taxes, or other charges that apply?
There are no other additional charges. We will handle the shipping.
The metadata file lists a $500 fee for a single copy of STARMap and $8900 annual fee for subscribter . What is the difference?
The $8,900 is for an unlimited maintenance subscription. The advantage with the subscription is to receive the updates on a weekly basis by the replication.
How can I become an annual subscriber to STAR*Map?
The STAR*Map subscription would be through your payment. The annual fee for the STAR*Map maintenance is $8,900. We provide weekly updates to the STAR*Map subscriber.
Is there a special rate for the STAR*Map if it is being used for educational purposes?
H-GAC provides a free STAR*Map to schools for academic usage per school once a year. Academic usage is for students who need to perform a GIS related research project (or study) and need to STAR*Map to complete their project. Students should contact their professor to obtain the copy of the STAR*Map. Any educational agency who receives a copy of the STAR*Map does not have the right to share their free copy with any third party or other educational agency.
Is there a membership fee to get updates to STAR*Map?
There is no membership fee but you can become a maintenance subscriber for an annual fee of $8,900.
Is it true that the STAR*Map will be free of charge if I join the Geographic Data Committee?
We provide a single copy of the STAR*Map for free to the new Geographic Data Committee members. This copy is one time only.
Does STAR*Map contain all drivable roads in both the unincorporated and incorporated areas of all of the counties included in the product, and are all corporate boundaries included?
Yes, STAR*Map includes all the drivable roads in both the unincorporated and the incorporated areas. It does not include the latest corporate boundaries.
Can STAR*Map information be purchased by layer, as opposed to purchasing the whole product?
No, We don't provide layer by layer. We only distribute the packaged product.
How often are files updated?
Files are updated on a daily basis.
How many updates do you provide per year?
We provide monthly updates since 2010. There are 12 updates per year.
Can you provide a DLL that can convert the Lat/Long to a street name and address?
Yes, but the DLL is created in a program called ArcGIS. We would need you to provide us with your data so we can import them into ArcGIS, geocode them, and then generate the lat/long from the geocode for you.
Does the dataset include the address points and parcels?
The dataset includes address points but not actual parcel polygons. We do not have parcel polygon data. This data can be obtained from the local county appraisal districts.
Is STAR*Map downloadable?
Yes, it can be distributed through FTP. Payment is required in advance.
How current is the data? Is there a backlog?
The STAR*Map is very current (within 3 months) of all platted development. You will find the STAR*Map to be the most up-to-date street centerline basemap for this area.
Do you distribute CenterPoint addresses? Where can I get the latest copy?
Yes, we distribute the CenterPoint address points with each release of the STAR*Map.
We want to provide our contractor who works on a project in our organization with a copy of STAR*Map. What kind of agreement should we sign with you?
No agreement is required. You can allow contractors to use the STAR*Map for projects they are completing for your organization. If this contractor works for a different organization on a similar project then they should buy a copy of the STAR*Map for that organization.
Do you have a layer file that just shows the major freeways/highways already color coded and labeled?
There is a field in the roads shapefile called "Road_Class" that you can use to symbolize the roads on the map. It is the field that we use to differentiate the different types of roads on a map. It is a very useful tool to display roads on your maps.
What is the format you provide for STAR*Map?
STAR*Map is available in several file formats: GIS ArcView Shapefile, Personal Goedatabase, etc.
We need to put together a mailing list for a certain watershed area and I was wondering has the STAR*Map the geocoded address data in it?
STAR*Map is exactly what you need to geocode your address list.
Can you send me the metadata for your STAR*Map product?
A readme file comes with each STAR*Map release. It includes some metadata.
Which counties are included in the STAR*Map?
STAR*Map includes all of Austin, Chambers, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, Waller, and Wharton, Colorado, Matagorda and Walker Counties.
If we got the product in AutoCAD, would the information be just as good as it would be if we got shapefiles?
We don't distribute in AutoCAD format. We distribute in an ESRI shapefile. You would have to convert it from a shapefile to AutoCAD format.
Can you provide the street centerline database file, the associated shapefile, and SHX file?
Yes, we will provide you with the latest STAR*Map release that includes all of the above.
Who can get a copy of STAR*Map for free?
We provide one free copy of STAR*Map for free to the new Geographic Data Committee members. This is one time only.
We also provide one free copy of STAR*Map for academic use to educational institutions, once a year. The purpose of this free copy is for students to do research projects/study. Educational institutions should not share the copy with a third party.