City

City is a direct AdministrativeArea subtype for incorporated cities and towns. It has no unique properties, but a strong City node with geo, containedInPlace, and sameAs anchors every LocalBusiness, JobPosting, and Event inside that jurisdiction to a single canonical entity.

The practical win is entity resolution: when Google's knowledge graph sees a consistent @id-linked City node across your business listings, location pages, and job postings, it collapses them onto the same place entity. That is the difference between a scattered set of local pages and a coherent "Dunmore, PA" knowledge panel.

Full example of schema.org/City json-ld markup

The markup is verified as valid with Rich Results Test from Google.

Highlight legend:Required by GoogleRecommendedOptional

schema.org/City

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "City",
  "@id": "https://xoocode.com/reference/city/dunmore-pa",
  "name": "Dunmore",
  "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": 41.4231, "longitude": -75.6327 },
  "containedInPlace": {
    "@type": "State",
    "@id": "https://xoocode.com/reference/state/US-PA",
    "name": "Pennsylvania",
    "identifier": "US-PA"
  },
  "sameAs": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunmore,_Pennsylvania",
    "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q616985"
  ]
}
</script>

When to use a City node

On a city landing page ("Things to do in Dunmore").
Inside jobLocation.address.addressLocality, paired with the text city name.
As a containedInPlace anchor on TouristAttraction, Park, or LocalBusiness entities that sit inside the city.

For plain addresses, the single text value "addressLocality": "Dunmore" is still the right call. A full City node is for when the city is the subject.

Minimal valid version

The smallest markup that still produces a valid City entity. Use it as the floor. Reach for the advanced example above when you want search engines and AI agents to understand more about your content.

schema.org/City (minimal)

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "City",
  "name": "Dunmore",
  "containedInPlace": { "@type": "State", "name": "Pennsylvania" }
}
</script>

Google rich results this unlocks

Markup matching this example makes your page eligible for the following Google Search rich results. The primary target drives the required / recommended property classification in the advanced code block above.

No dedicated rich result (knowledge-graph entity resolution)
Google docs

Common City mistakes

Mistakes that pass validation but silently fail to earn rich results or mislead consumers walking the graph. Avoid these and your markup will be ahead of most sites in the wild.

01
Multiple competing @id values for the same city
Wrong
```
Different pages reference Dunmore via different @id values
```
Right
```
One canonical @id for the City, referenced from every local entity
```
Inconsistent @id values prevent Google from collapsing your local pages onto one place entity. Pick one and stick to it.
02
City for an unincorporated neighbourhood
Wrong
```
City on a neighbourhood, suburb, or census-designated place
```
Right
```
Use AdministrativeArea (or Neighborhood-style naming) for sub-city divisions
```
City is about incorporated municipalities; going more granular confuses the jurisdictional signal.

Schema properties in this example

City AdministrativeArea Place name geo GeoCoordinates latitude longitude containedInPlace State identifier sameAs addressLocality

Also mentioned in 16 other examples

City also appears in AdministrativeArea, Airport, CityHall, Courthouse, EmergencyService, FireStation, GovernmentOrganization, GovernmentService, and 8 more. See the full City schema page for every reference.

About the example data

Dunmore, Pennsylvania as a City node with geo coordinates and a Wikipedia sameAs, used to anchor every Xoo Code LocalBusiness and event.

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