Postal zip code zones

The new number was an improvement on the postal zone or a zone improvement plan: a ZIP code. Thank you for Sue and Barbara for sending me that interesting additional information! Image courtesy of Shutterstock. Her popular LinkedIn Learning courses help people write better to communicate better. Jump to Navigation. By Mignon Fogarty Grammar Girl.

May 28, We are currently experiencing playback issues on Safari. 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. Remember that ZIP codes were made to make mail delivery easier.

They weren't made to correspond to existing boundaries such as cities, counties, or even states. If it is more efficient for a mail carrier to drive across a state line to deliver mail, the ZIP code "boundary" will cross the state lines. ZIP codes don't usually cross state lines, but some do , , and are good examples. The edges of the boundaries commonly overlap. For the purposes of our free zip code database by county downloads, we will commonly list either the most common region for the ZIP code or list multiple regions if several exist in the ZIP code.

For cities, the assignment is somewhat more complicated. The assignment of cities to ZIP codes is more general. The city is usually the name of the main post office. For instance, almost all ZIP codes in St. Louis County in Missouri have a city of Saint Louis when they may be more accurately described as the name of a smaller city where they are located.

Click here to learn more about matching ZIPs to cities and counties. Toggle navigation. Search by ZIP, address, city, or county:.

Featured In. They were necessary because many postal clerks had gone into the service and the new inexperienced postal clerks were having trouble sorting the mail. The zone system was put in place to make things easier.

By this time most businesses had automated mailing systems that could easily handle the 5 digits that would allow mailings to bypass as many as six mail-handling steps. Zip codes went into effect on July 1, Vintage Wholesale. What is Your Vintage Item Worth? Patent Dates When did postal zones and zip codes start?