Layer 2 — Private parcels

Property boundaries explained: reading county parcel data

Why there is no national parcel layer, and what the lines you do see actually mean.

Why the data matters

Public land on a map is an ownership claim, not an access guarantee.

Parcels live at the county

Ownership is recorded by county assessors, each with its own schema, update cadence and licence. Statewide seamless parcels either do not exist or are sold commercially, which is why HuntTrack ships parcels as a bring-your-own layer.

What each line means

Assessor polygons are tax boundaries, not surveyed property corners. Expect tens of feet of drift. Where a parcel line and a public-land polygon disagree, the survey plat wins, not the map.

Corner crossing and easements

Adjoining public parcels at a checkerboard corner are still legally contested ground in parts of the West. Easements and access roads are recorded separately from the parcel polygon and usually are not in the GIS export at all.

Sources & further reading

This explainer is a stub — expand it with regional examples and screenshots as the layer matures.

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