States by zip code

If you think you know them all, try our postal codes quiz. The history of the postal service in the U. But, a lot of people might not realize that USPS postal codes are actually quite recent. What's more, the two-letter abbreviations that people are familiar with today actually came after the invention of ZIP codes. The story starts in ?

The Table was essential for people to figure out where they could send their mail and where it could be received back when they were expected to retrieve it themselves. In the Post Office Department included a list of acceptable state abbreviations to use when addressing letters. They preferred that people just write the full names, but people enjoyed the quicker and easier way of writing just like today. President Abraham Lincoln a former postman himself was persuaded to begin free letter shipping in cities in This was the origin of the modern system of home letter deliveries.

As mail carriers began taking more complicated and longer routes through the cities, the number of carriers grew. Due to the growing workforce, the admission of new states, and more interstate mail thanks to the likes of the Pony Express , the government sent out a new, bigger list of abbreviations in These would be the default codes until World War II.

When the war called away huge numbers of the country's young men, the post was seriously understaffed. The people who were left also weren't as familiar with the parts of town they didn't work in prior. The post offices began breaking down cities into broad numbered regions like Birmingham 7, etc.

This system proved effective, and became de facto practice up until the release of the Postal Bulletin for June, The bulletin introduced the ZIP Code as a fast and easy way of organizing mail. They also released new shorter state abbreviations to make room for ZIP codes on letters. They provide a very close approximation of the area covered by a ZIP code. You can easily notice some of the boundary issues when viewing our maps.

Very rural areas aren't labeled as belonging to a ZIP code such as much of Nevada and Utah where there are few, if any, addresses to deliver mail.

If the address is on the same street as a ZIP code boundary on the map, be sure to search for the full street address to determine the ZIP code instead of relying on the map. Their purpose is to convey statistical data about regions that are familiar to most citizens. As discussed above, it is difficult to precisely define a geographic area covered by a ZIP code. ZCTAs were developed to account for some of the difficulties in assigning an area to a ZIP code and to precisely define a geographic area.

In general, they are updated once every 10 years for the Census. The Census assigns an area to a ZCTA according to census blocks the smallest geographic unit used by the census.

Imagine a city block that makes up a typical census block as pictured to the right. It is bounded on all 4 sides by portions of city streets that each have their own name and addresses. The issue is that census blocks almost always split down the middle of the street. ZIP codes rarely do because that would require two postal workers delivering mail to that street - one for each side of the street.

In the example, one mail carrier may deliver to 3 sides of the block via one ZIP code while another mail carrier delivers mail on the other street in a different ZIP code. When this happens, the Census Bureau will assign the entire block to a single ZCTA in this case, because the census block is the area that is precisely measured. If you are getting very precise usually a matter of meters, not miles , census block boundaries near the edge of a ZIP code almost always split ZIP codes.

The statistics provided by the Census Bureau can give insight into the demographics within the ZIP code. For instance, see our ZIP code rankings. We have found the zip code you are likely in using your general area. To get your exact zipcode please share your location. You can also find the zipcode of any address or point clicked on the map. Searching for a city may not give you a result as there are many zip codes within a city.

If you are in a country other then the United States you will receive the postal code of that location. In the United States of America a zipcode is five or nine numbers that are added to a postal address to assist the sorting of mail.

There are currently about 43, zipcode. This tool can also find the postal code of many other countries.