ZIP Code Directory FAQ's
United States ZIP Code Directory
Q. How do I get a list of all abbreviations in your database?
A. We have official abbreviation lists available: State & Street Suffix Abbreviations and USPS Common Abbreviations.
Q. What information will I get when I look up a ZIP Code on your site?
A. The ZIP Code Database lookup results will include Area Code, City, State, County, Latitude, Longitude, Elevation, City Aliases, Population, Households per ZIP Code, Average House Value, Average Income per Household, White Population, Black Population, Hispanic Population, MSA and PMSA. Median Age, Male Median Age, Female Median Age, # of Businesses, Q1 Payroll, Annual Payroll, # of Employees, Employment Flag, County Growth Rank, 2003 Housing Units, 2004 Housing Units, Number Increase in Units, % Increase in Units, CBSA Population, CBSA Division Pop., 112th Congressional District, 112th Congressional Land Area, # Residential Mailboxes, # Business Mailboxes, Total Delivery Receptacles, Current Population NEW!, Multi County Data, Land Area in Square Miles, Water Area in Square Miles. Box Counts (PO Box counts), SFDU (single family delivery units), and MFDU (multi family delivery units)
Q. What information will I get when I purchase the zip code database from your company?
A. Our database contains all current data regarding ZIP codes, area codes, city name, alias city names, two digit state code, city type, county name, state FIPS, county FIPS, time zone, daylight savings indicator, primary record indicator, latitude, longitude, county elevation, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), MSA description name, Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA), Metro CBSA description name, and CBSA division. Our database also provides Census 2010 data for the United States, including population, households per zip code, average house value, average income per household, white population, black population, and hispanic population, Median Age, Male Median Age, Female Median Age, # of Businesses, Q1 Payroll, Annual Payroll, # of Employees, Employment Flag, County Growth Rank, 2003 Housing Units, 2004 Housing Units, Number Increase in Units, % Increase in Units, CBSA Population, CBSA Division Pop., 112th Congressional District, 112th Congressional Land Area, # Residential Mailboxes, # Business Mailboxes, Total Delivery Receptacles, Current Population NEW!, Multi County Data, Land Area in Square Miles, Water Area in Square Miles, Box Counts, SFDU, MFDU.
The data comes in row and column format which means you can sort the data by ANY of the above data fields. An example would be: If you wanted all zip codes or cities with an average income per household over $100,000, you would simply sort by the "average income per household" column, move to the point of the data that reaches $100,000 and every data item from that point down will match your criteria. You can do that for any of the 69 data items - it's simple and effective.
Q. What makes your database unique and better than your competitors?
A. Our database contains 75 data fields (Business Edition) and over 80,000 records. It is updated and verified in an automated fashion, giving the user current and precise data. We give you more data so your company will have a competitive advantage in its efforts. Our data is precise, and we charge less than half of what many of our main competitors charge. We give more data at a better price - this combination has brought us to the top of our industry.
Q. What are MSA, PMSA, and CBSA?
A. MSA is the older standard used by the government to define certain populous geographic areas. There are 280 MSA's. MSAs and PMSAs are four-digit numeric codes assigned to the 362 metropolitan geographic areas defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a part of the administrative branch of the Federal Government. The MSA and PMSA standard have been replaced by the CBSA (Core Based Statistical Area). There are 369 Metro CBSA's and 565 Micro CBSA's. To qualify as a Metro area, the population must exceed 50,000. A Micro area has 10,000 to 50,000.
Q. What information comes with your database and what does it mean?
A. Here's a breakdown of the information you get in the ZIP Code database:
- Zip Code: designated by the United States Postal Service.
- City: designated by the United States Postal Service.
- Area Code: telephone area code(s) of the particular postal zone.
- State Code: two digit state code.
- State Name: full state name.
- City Alias: the alias name for the ZIP Code. This may be a city name, postal entity, community or a municipality name.
- City Alias Abbreviation: abbreviation of city alias where applicable.
- City Type: Describes the type of station in the "City Alias" field:
CODE DESCRIPTION A Airport Mail Facility (AMF) B Branch C Community Post Office (CPO) D Area Distribution Center (ASC) E Sectional Center Facility (SCF) F Delivery Distribution Center (DDC) G General Mailing Facility (GMF) K Bulk Mail Center (BMC) M Money Order Unit N Non Postal Community Name P Post Office S Station U Urbanization X APO/FPO Military Z P.O. Box Only A Branch or post office branch is a postal facility that is not the main post office and that is outside the corporate limits of the community.
A Community Post Office (CPO) is a contract postal unit providing services in a small community in which other types of post office facilities have been discontinued.
A Area Distribution Center (ASC) or processing and distribution facility (formerly known as a General Mail Facility) is a central mail facility that processes and dispatches incoming and outgoing mail to and from a designated service area.
A Sectional Center Facility (SCF) is a ASC for a designated geographical area defined by one or more three-digit ZIP code prefixes.
A Post Office, formerly known as a general post office or main post office, is the primary postal facility in a community.
A Station or post office station is a postal facility that is not the main post office, but that is within the corporate limits of the community.
An Urbanization is a facility type specific to Puerto Rico.
- County: county or parish where the ZIP Code resides.
- Latitude: the geographic coordinate of a point measured in degrees north or south of the equator.
- Longitude: the geographic coordinate of a point measured in degrees east or west of the Greenwich meridian.
- Elevation: the county's average elevation.
- Primary Record: This column indicates the "primary" city name within a given zip code.
- MSA: Metropolitan Statistical Area.(no longer used by government - CBSA is the new standard)
- MSA Description: Metropolitan Statistical Area Description Name.
- PMSA: Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area.
- CSA: Core Statistical Area.
- CBSA: Core Based Statistical Area.
- CBSA Description: Core Based Statistical Area Description Name.
- CBSA Division: Core Based Statistical Area Division.
- Daylight Savings Flag: flag indicating whether a zip code is on daylight savings.
- Metro/Micro: indication of whether a CBSA is Metro or Micro.
- State FIPS: Federal Information Processing Standards code given to each state or US territory.
- County FIPS: Federal Information Processing Standards code given to counties or parishes.
- Time Zone: time zone designation within the U.S. - numbers 4-11 are assigned.
CODE DESCRIPTION 4 Atlantic 5 Eastern 6 Central 7 Mountain 8 Pacific 9 Alaska 10 Hawaii-Aleutian Islands 11 Samoa - Population: The population of the ZIP Code based on Census 2010.
- Households per ZIP Code: Total estimated amount of households per ZIP Code based on Census 2010.
- Persons per Household: average number of individuals per household.
- White Population: The estimate of White population per ZIP code based on Census 2010.
- Black Population: The estimate of Black population per ZIP code based on Census 2010.
- Hispanic Population: The estimate of Hispanic population per ZIP code based on Census 2010.
- Income per Household: The average household income within a town/city based on Census 2010.
- Average House Value: The average house value within the town/city based on Census 2010.
- Mailing Name: Indicates whether the City Alias Name is a valid name used for mailing purposes.
- # of Businesses: The total number of business establishments reported for this ZIP Code in the 2009 Census.
- Q1 Payroll: The First Quarter Payroll amount (in $1,000's) of business reported for this ZIP Code in the 2009 Census.
- Annual Payroll: The Annual Payroll amount (in $1,000's) of business reported for this ZIP Code in the 2009 Census.
- # of Employees: The number of employees reported for this ZIP Code in the 2003 Census.
- Employment Flag: Due to confidentiality, some areas do not have actual figures for employment information. Employment and payroll data are replaced by zeroes with the Employment Flag denoting employment size class.
CODE EMPLOYMENT SIZE A 0 - 19 B 20 - 99 C 100 - 249 E 250 - 499 F 500 - 999 G 1,000 - 2,499 H 2,500 - 4,999 I 5,000 - 9,999 J 10,000 - 24,999 K 25,000 - 49,999 L 50,000 - 99,999 M 100,000 or more - County Growth Rank: The rank this county is listed at in the Census List of Top 100 growing counties.
- 2003 Housing Units: The number of housing units in 2003 for this county as listed in the Census List of Top 100 growing counties.
- 2004 Housing Units: The number of housing units in 2004 for this county as listed in the Census List of Top 100 growing counties.
- Number Increase in Units: The number increase of housing units from 2003 to 2004 for this county as listed in the Census List of Top 100 growing counties.
- % Increase in Units: The percentage increase of housing units from 2003 to 2004 for this county as listed in the Census List of Top 100 growing counties.
- CBSA Population: The total population for the CBSA.
- CBSA Division Population: The total population for the CBSA Division.
- Congressional District: The District(s) this ZIP Code belongs to for the Congress.
- Congressional Land Area: The Land Area covered by the district(s) this ZIP Code belongs to for the Congress.
- Box Count: The total count of PO Box deliveries in this zip code.
- SFDU: The total count of single family delivery units in this zip code - generally analogous to homes.
- MFDU: The total count of multiple family deliveries in this zip code - generally analogous to apartments.
Q. How are results ordered on your site when I look up something with multiple results (like a County with numerous ZIP Codes)?
A. The ZIP Code Directory sorts results alphabetically by City.
Q. How does the ZIP Code Database decide which results to show me if I put in multiple search criteria?
A. The ZIP Code Database uses a boolean "and" search, providing results that satisfy ALL the criteria you enter.
Q. What are some uses for the ZIP Code Database?
A. The ZIP Code Database is helpful in the following situations, to name just a few:
- Marketing data for companies
- Application development - makes your web application development a breeze
- Determining where the highest population densities are
- Determining where the highest income zip codes are
- Determining where the highest house values are
- Determining the elevation of locations
- Determining the longitude and latitude of locations
Q. How many users are included in the purchase price?
A. The Zip-Code Database has different levels for the number of users in your organization.
Q. How often is the database updated?
A. Our ZIP-Code Database is updated monthly. Updates are provided around the second of each month. Email notices will also be sent notifying you of the changes. We provide an update file and the full updated database each month.
Q. What information is updated and when is it from?
A. All fields in our database can be updated. Depending on the information in question, updated information happens from monthly to almost never. An example of monthly updates would be the zip code data from the USPS. An example of "almost never" would be the Region or Division. They do not change unless a ZIP Code has been rezoned in a new area. If this occurs, the data will be updated as well but they almost never do.
Q. How do I get the new database each month?
A. The ZIP-Code Database is available for download at anytime in all formats with your one year subscription. Simply login to "Your Account" and choose "Download Database" from the options. Select the format you wish to download and click "Download"
Q. I can't log into my account!
A. Try using our lost password feature to retreive your username and password. If you are still unable to login, make sure that your browser can accept cookies. This is required to remember your login information for validation on our website. If the problem persists, please contact us.
Q. Why is a zip code listed more than once in your database?
A. Each ZIP Code has a record for it's primary city name and any aliases that may be associated with that zip code. If a ZIP Code has 10 city alias names, 10 records will be listed, with the CityAliasName field being different/unique for each one. If you purchased the Standard version and want to know which record is the primary record, simply find the record where the City Name and the City Alias match, that is your primary record.
Q. Why does the White, Hispanic, and Black populations total to more than the "Total Population"?
A. This happens because many people list themselves as multi-raced individuals. Their race is then counted as part of each race type, but they will only show up once in the total population field.
Q. Why does the White, Hispanic, and Black populations total to less than the "Total Population"?
A. This happens because we do not break down all different ethnicities such as Asian, American Indian, etc.
Q. Why are the Employment and Payroll fields 0 for some ZIP Codes??
A. The Census does not provide Business Size data in areas where there is low population or the data is such that a single business can be indentified. In these instances, employment and payroll data are replaced by zeroes. The EmploymentFlag2003 field is used to denote the number of employees by class size based on the following schedule.
| CODE | EMPLOYMENT SIZE |
| A | 0 - 19 |
| B | 20 - 99 |
| C | 100 - 249 |
| E | 250 - 499 |
| F | 500 - 999 |
| G | 1,000 - 2,499 |
| H | 2,500 - 4,999 |
| I | 5,000 - 9,999 |
| J | 10,000 - 24,999 |
| K | 25,000 - 49,999 |
| L | 50,000 - 99,999 |
| M | 100,000 or more |
Q. What are the Congressional Districts?
A. The Congressional District comes from the Census 2010 for congressional districts of the Congress. Congressional district boundaries in Maine, Pennsylvania, and Texas changed after the 108th Congress was seated in January of 2003. These changes occurred for the 109th Congress that was seated in January of 2005. This field shows which districts the ZIP Code belongs to.
