diff --git a/doc/measures_functions.md b/doc/measures_functions.md
index a07ad93..be7e9f8 100644
--- a/doc/measures_functions.md
+++ b/doc/measures_functions.md
@@ -134,6 +134,40 @@ SET household_count = OBS_GetMeasure(the_geom, 'us.census.acs.B11001001')
 
 * If an unrecognized normalization type is input, raise an error: `'Only valid inputs for "normalize" are "area" (default) and "denominator".`
 
+## OBS_GetMeasureById(geom_ref text, measure_id text, boundary_id text)
+
+The ```OBS_GetMeasureById(geom_ref, measure_id, boundary_id)``` function returns any Data Observatory measure that corresponds to the boundary in ```boundary_id``` that has a geometry reference of ```geom_ref```.
+
+#### Arguments
+
+Name |Description
+--- | ---
+geom_ref | a geometry reference (e.g., a US Census geoid)
+measure_id | a measure identifier from the Data Observatory ([see available measures](https://cartodb.github.io/bigmetadata/observatory.pdf))  
+boundary_id | source of geometries to pull measure from (e.g., 'us.census.tiger.census_tract')
+time_span (optional) | time span of interest (e.g., 2010 - 2014). If `NULL` is passed, the measure from the most recent data will be used.
+
+#### Returns
+
+A NUMERIC value
+
+Key | Description
+--- | ---
+value | the raw measure associated with `geom_ref`
+
+#### Example
+
+Add a measure to an empty column based on county geoids in your table
+
+```SQL
+UPDATE tablename
+SET household_count = OBS_GetMeasureById(geoid_column, 'us.census.acs.B11001001', 'us.census.tiger.county')
+```
+
+#### Errors
+
+* Returns `NULL` if there is a mismatch between the geometry reference and the boundary id such as using the geoid of a county with the boundary of block groups
+
 ## OBS_GetCategory(point geometry, category_id text)
 
 The ```OBS_GetCategory(point, category_id)``` function returns any Data Observatory Category value at a point location. The Categories available are currently limited to Segmentation categories. See the Segmentation section of the [Catalog](https://cartodb.github.io/bigmetadata/observatory.pdf) for more detail.
diff --git a/src/pg/sql/41_observatory_augmentation.sql b/src/pg/sql/41_observatory_augmentation.sql
index 6b64f60..544a18d 100644
--- a/src/pg/sql/41_observatory_augmentation.sql
+++ b/src/pg/sql/41_observatory_augmentation.sql
@@ -380,6 +380,53 @@ END;
 $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
 
 
+CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION cdb_observatory.OBS_GetMeasureById(
+  geom_ref TEXT,
+  measure_id TEXT,
+  boundary_id TEXT,
+  time_span TEXT DEFAULT NULL
+)
+RETURNS NUMERIC
+AS $$
+DECLARE
+  target_table TEXT;
+  colname TEXT;
+  measure_val NUMERIC;
+  data_geoid_colname TEXT;
+  test_query TEXT;
+BEGIN
+
+  SELECT x ->> 'colname', x ->> 'tablename' INTO colname, target_table
+  FROM cdb_observatory._OBS_GetColumnData(boundary_id, Array[measure_id], time_span) As x;
+
+  EXECUTE
+    format('SELECT ct.colname
+              FROM observatory.obs_column_to_column c2c,
+                   observatory.obs_column_table ct,
+                   observatory.obs_table t
+             WHERE c2c.reltype = ''geom_ref''
+               AND ct.column_id = c2c.source_id
+               AND ct.table_id = t.id
+               AND t.tablename = %L'
+     , target_table)
+  INTO data_geoid_colname;
+
+  RAISE DEBUG 'target_table %, colname %', target_table, colname;
+
+  EXECUTE format(
+      'SELECT %I
+       FROM observatory.%I
+       WHERE %I.%I = %L',
+       colname,
+       target_table,
+       target_table, data_geoid_colname, geom_ref)
+  INTO measure_val;
+
+  RETURN measure_val;
+
+END;
+$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
+
 CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION cdb_observatory.OBS_GetCategory(
   geom geometry(Geometry, 4326),
   category_id TEXT,
diff --git a/src/pg/test/expected/41_observatory_augmentation_test.out b/src/pg/test/expected/41_observatory_augmentation_test.out
index 0094351..8311660 100644
--- a/src/pg/test/expected/41_observatory_augmentation_test.out
+++ b/src/pg/test/expected/41_observatory_augmentation_test.out
@@ -76,3 +76,15 @@ t
 obs_getuscensuscategory_polygon
 t
 (1 row)
+obs_getmeasurebyid_cartodb_census_tract
+t
+(1 row)
+obs_getmeasurebyid_null_boundary_null_timespan
+t
+(1 row)
+obs_getmeasurebyid_cartodb_block_group
+t
+(1 row)
+obs_getmeasurebyid_nulls
+t
+(1 row)
diff --git a/src/pg/test/sql/41_observatory_augmentation_test.sql b/src/pg/test/sql/41_observatory_augmentation_test.sql
index 8061b18..8a3f023 100644
--- a/src/pg/test/sql/41_observatory_augmentation_test.sql
+++ b/src/pg/test/sql/41_observatory_augmentation_test.sql
@@ -204,4 +204,37 @@ SELECT cdb_observatory.OBS_GetUSCensusCategory(
   cdb_observatory._testarea(), 'Spielman-Singleton Segments: 10 Clusters') = 'Low income, mix of minorities' As OBS_GetUSCensusCategory_polygon;
 
 
+-- OBS_GetMeasureById tests
+-- typical query
+SELECT (cdb_observatory.OBS_GetMeasureById(
+  '36047048500',
+  'us.census.acs.B01003001',
+  'us.census.tiger.census_tract',
+  '2010 - 2014'
+) - 3241) / 3241 < 0.0001 As OBS_GetMeasureById_cartodb_census_tract;
+
+-- no boundary_id should give null
+SELECT cdb_observatory.OBS_GetMeasureById(
+  '36047048500',
+  'us.census.acs.B01003001',
+  NULL,
+  NULL
+) IS NULL As OBS_GetMeasureById_null_boundary_null_timespan;
+
+-- query at block_group level
+SELECT (cdb_observatory.OBS_GetMeasureById(
+  '360470485002',
+  'us.census.acs.B01003001',
+  'us.census.tiger.block_group',
+  '2010 - 2014'
+) - 1900) / 1900 < 0.0001 As OBS_GetMeasureById_cartodb_block_group;
+
+-- geom ref / boundary mismatch
+SELECT cdb_observatory.OBS_GetMeasureById(
+  '36047048500',
+  'us.census.acs.B01003001',
+  'us.census.tiger.block_group',
+  '2010 - 2014'
+) IS NULL As OBS_GetMeasureById_nulls;
+
 \i test/fixtures/drop_fixtures.sql