In 1963 the United States Postal Service (USPS) unveiled ZIP Codes. Designed to make mail more efficient, the acronym ZIP (short for Zone Improvement Plan) was chosen to emphasize the zippy, new speediness of the mail. Twenty years later ZIP+4 was introduced to further improve the U.S. mail service. However, it wasn’t embraced by the American public, so that’s why most people still only use the five digit code when sending mail.
Nowadays, ZIP codes are typically converted into Intelligent Mail barcodes that include the ZIP+4, plus an extra two digits, making it so that your mail arrives quicker than ever before in history.
CallerSmart has compiled some statistics regarding how many ZIP Codes there are in each state, plus some other interesting state-based facts like how many cities, counties, area codes, telephone carriers, and reverse phone lookups. In addition you can access each state’s Hall of Shame, which exposes the top phone scammers in each state based on our crowd sourced information.
| State | 2 Letter State Abbreviation | Number of ZIP Codes |
| Alabama | AL | 1,364 |
| Alaska | AK | 373 |
| Arizona | AZ | 678 |
| Arkansas | AR | 1,052 |
| California | CA | 6,317 |
| Colorado | CO | 945 |
| Connecticut | CT | 665 |
| Delaware | DE | 176 |
| District of Columbia | DC | 147 |
| Florida | FL | 2,737 |
| Georgia | GA | 1,793 |
| Hawaii | HI | 188 |
| Idaho | ID | 513 |
| Illinois | IL | 4,409 |
| Indiana | IN | 1,813 |
| Iowa | IA | 2,579 |
| Kansas | KS | 1,658 |
| Kentucky | KY | 1,517 |
| Louisiana | LA | 1,039 |
| Maine | ME | 787 |
| Maryland | MD | 1,677 |
| Massachusetts | MA | 1,644 |
| Michigan | MI | 2,804 |
| Minnesota | MN | 2,240 |
| Mississippi | MS | 951 |
| Missouri | MO | 2,811 |
| Montana | MT | 653 |
| Nebraska | NE | 1,364 |
| Nevada | NV | 358 |
| New Hampshire | NH | 573 |
| New Jersey | NJ | 1,984 |
| New Mexico | NM | 559 |
| New York | NY | 4,471 |
| North Carolina | NC | 2,121 |
| North Dakota | ND | 806 |
| Ohio | OH | 3,188 |
| Oklahoma | OK | 1, 212 |
| Oregon | OR | 859 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | 4,342 |
| Rhode Island | RI | 190 |
| South Carolina | SC | 957 |
| South Dakota | SD | 789 |
| Tennessee | TN | 1,400 |
| Texas | TX | 4,787 |
| Utah | UT | 602 |
| Vermont | VT | 518 |
| Virginia | VA | 2,220 |
| Washington | WA | 1,348 |
| West Virginia | WV | 1,081 |
| Wisconsin | WI | 2,101 |
| Wyoming | WY | 226 |
As you can see from the table the more densely populated a state is the more ZIP codes it has. Manhattan itself has 76 ZIP codes, you can go more in depth and find the ZIP codes of each city or town in our Cities tab on each State page.
This ZIP code finder and boundary map allows you to explore the different ZIP code areas around the country.
Other Useful Sites for ZIP Code Information
USPS Look Up a ZIP Code - allows you to search ZIP codes by address.
ZIP Code FAQs - frequently asked questions about ZIP codes.
Finding Information about Populations with ZIP Codes
ZIP codes are a great tool for finding out more information about a particular area. The U.S Census has used ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs), to organize the data that they collect.
American FactFinder allows you to access Census data by searching ZIP codes. You can search through data from Census 2010 as well as Census 2000. American Community Survey (ACS) data can also be accessed via American FactFinder.
The U.S. Census and ACS provides you with an abundance of information from age, race, marital status to household information such as income and family size.
The University of Michigan has compiled two downloadable spreadsheets to show the median and mean household income for each ZIP code. This data was taken from the ACS and Census. They also provide further information on how to compute characteristics at the ZIP code level.
In addition to demographics we can also gain many other insights and information from ZIP code based data.
Overview:
- Educational Data by ZIP Code
- Crime Data by ZIP Code
- Political Data by ZIP Code
- Environmental Data by ZIP Code
- Business Data by ZIP Code
Educational Data by ZIP Code
National Center for Education Statistics - you can search for public schools by ZIP code.
American FactFinder - with the American FactFinder you can access data regarding level of educational attainment based on ZIP code.
Crime Data by ZIP Code
NACo Explorer - this is an interactive map that allows you to investigate child poverty statistics, inmate demographics, medical benefits paid, and more by ZIP code. It is a subscription based site.
25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods - NeighborhoodScout has compiled a list of the 25 most dangerous neighborhoods throughout the country. Their database is extensive and is searchable by ZIP code. It is a subscription based site.
Stand for Children: Cradle to Prison Pipeline Study - the ZIP code that you grow up in can often be a predictor of whether or not you will go to jail. A study done by Stand.org found that a majority of inmates in Texas all came from the same 10 ZIP codes in the Dallas area. These 10 ZIP codes had the poorest school systems.
Political Data by ZIP Code
OpenCongress Find Your Senators and Representatives - you can search by ZIP code to find out who your representatives are.
Federal Election Commission - allows you to see political donations given by individuals in a specific ZIP code.
Environmental Data by ZIP Code
MyEnvironment - created by the EPA, MyEnvironment, allows you to search environmental statistics by ZIP code. You can access data regarding air, water, and energy use.
Air Quality Index (AQI) Basics - AQI reports daily air quality based on ZIP code.
Earth911 - allows you to find out how to recycle a number of things and you can search for recycling centers based on ZIP code.
EnviroFacts - created by the EPA, EnviroFacts allows you to search things like radiation levels, and compliance to environmental policies.
Climate Change in Your Community - The Natural Resources Defense Council allows you to see how climate change will affect your community by ZIP code.
FEMA DRC Locator - if you are experiencing a natural disaster you can search the nearest Disaster Recovery Center by ZIP code.
Climate Data Online - Climate Data Online (CDO) provides free access to global historical weather and climate data in addition to station history information it is searchable by ZIP code.
Alternative Fueling Station Locator - you can find alternative fueling stations using ZIP code.
FEMA Flood Map Service Center - allows you to see flooding risks by ZIP code.
Weather - you can search weather by zip code.
Climate Central: Rising Sea Levels - threats of sea level rise searchable by ZIP code.
USDA Farmers' Markets - farmers’ market directory list that is searchable by ZIP code.
Environmental Commodities - What are enviornmental commodities and how can you trade them?
Business Data by ZIP Code
ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP) - or County Business Patterns (CBP) shows annual data by industry. You can search for business data for specific areas by ZIP code.
Recently Sold Homes - You can search by ZIP code to see the going rate of properties in a desired area.
Lowest Gas Prices Around You - with GasBuddy you can search for the lowest gas prices in a ZIP code.
ZIP Code Lookup of Sales and Use Tax Rates - allows you to search sales and use tax rates by ZIP code.
Auto Insurance Rates by ZIP Code - look up and compare auto insurance rates based on ZIP code.
List of the Top 500 Most Expensive ZIP Codes - 90210 didn’t even make the top 10! This list was compiled using median home prices from around the country.
SOI Tax Stats: Individual Income Tax Statistics - allows you to see income tax returns by ZIP code and offers downloadable files. Available for tax years 1998, 2001, 2004 to 2013.
Esri Marketing Segment Interactive Map - Esri uses demographic Census data and marketing data from GfK Mediamark Research & Intelligence to breakdown the specific market segments across the U.S. and show how marketers target us. There are 67 profiles of American market segments used.
American Charitable Giving - allows you to see American charitable giving by ZIP code.