

Populated areas, then you need to avoid using ZIP codes. The US Census Bureau offers what is known as ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA) which is a shapefile format polygon file of the generalized ZIP Code service areas. Requires extreme geographic precision, especially in sparsely Purely extrapolated guess (at what it would be if someone were to So the actualĭefinition of a ZIP code "boundary" is quite fuzzy at best, and a until there needs to be mail delivered there. Will not be assigned a ZIP code until there is a reason for it, Each cell in this table contains a three-digit ZIP code prefix, the state where that ZIP code prefix is located, and the name of the United States Postal. May see maps that show ZIP code boundaries that include such areas,īut these are not post-office-defined official definitions.

Lakes, much of Nevada and Utah) ZIP codes are not really defined. In areas where there is no mail delivery (deserts, mountains, In rural areas, ZIP codes can be collections of lines (ruralĭelivery routes) that in reality do no look much like a closed spatialĪrea. Since they are comprised of spatially clustered street ranges. As such, ZIP codes do in most cases resemble spatial areas They are simply categories for grouping mailingĪddresses. Service, ZIP codes are not and never have been such spatialĮntities. The perspective of the agency that defines them, the U.S. ZipDatamaps is The top site on the web for detailed interactive maps and data for US ZIP Codes, Canadian Postal Codes, Counties. We see maps of ZIP codes in telephone booksĪnd from commercial vendors that make us think of them as spatiallyĭefined areas with precise boundaries, similar to counties. The uppercase for it.) ZIP codes have been adopted by marketing peopleĪnd by all kinds of other researchers as a standard geographic area, Were used by the post office prior to implementing nationwide ZIPĬodes back in the early 1960's. Plan", where "Zone" is a reference to the 2-digit postal zones that ("ZIP" is actually an acronym for "Zone Improvement ZIP Codes can represent an area within a state (an area that may or may not cross county boundaries), an area that crosses state boundaries (an unusual condition), or a single building or company that has a very high mail volume. Postal Service as a tool to help deliver the mail moreĮfficiently. A ZIP Code is a 5-digit code that identifies a specific geographic delivery area. ZIP codes are a very messy kind of geography. you can get lat/lon boundaries for them). These are "ZCTA"s, which are based on USPS zip codes but more directly relate to spacial information (I.E. Read through the article here for a better understanding of what you're getting.
Us zip code map download#
This is a download of us geographic information based on the 2000 census.

US zipcode/city/county/state mapping Background
