Give your map a title, click any borough or census area to fill it with the selected color, build a legend, then download the finished map as an image.
How this tool works
The map shows all 30 boroughs and census areas of the state, drawn from official boundary data. Pick a color from the palette, or choose your own with the custom picker, then click any borough or census area to fill it. Clicking a filled borough or census area with the same color removes the fill, and the eraser removes any fill. You can type a title above the map, and every color you use appears in the legend below it, where you can type what each color stands for. When you are done, the download button saves your map, title, and legend as a PNG image ready to share or print.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you color is uploaded or stored anywhere, and refreshing the page starts a fresh map.
What you can do with it
- Track boroughs and census areas you have lived in, worked in, or visited
- Make simple election, school district, or survey maps with a labeled legend
- Create study aids for local geography, from borough or census area seats to regions
- Group boroughs and census areas by region, media market, or any category you invent
- Produce quick illustrative maps for blog posts, presentations, and social media
Why use it
Making a simple colored map usually means installing GIS software, wrestling with a drawing app, or signing up for a mapping service that wants an account before you can click anything. Most of the time you just want to shade a handful of boroughs and census areas and get an image out. This tool solves that: no signup, no software, no watermark. Open the page, color the boroughs and census areas, download the file.
Data sources
- Boundaries: US Census Bureau cartographic boundary files (1:20,000,000 scale, 2023 vintage), shown in an equal area projection.