US ZIP Code List ▷ United States Postal Codes By States

The concept of the US ZIP codes was first introduced and used by the Postal Service of the United States of America.

This system was formerly known as the United States Postal Service (USPS) 1963.

This was borne out of the need to enhance efficiency in the delivery system of mail services through easy collation.

Bringing about the need for the now commonly known ZIP codes.

United States ZIP Codes

The ZIP code of USA is a type of postal code specifically designed and used within the United States.

They are used to enhancing the mailing system of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Shipping firms like Federal Express (FedEx), United Parcel Service (UPS), DHL, and a host of others adopted the system of ZIP codes for collating and sorting packages.

This also extends to the calculation of proximity, time, and cost of shipping submitted packages.

US ZIP Code Functions

1. Delivery Service Functions

Firms that are into collecting and delivery of parcels on behalf of their clients require ZIP codes for the delivery of packages.

This helps them in knowing the destination an item is headed for easily and grouping it approximately.

At a glance at the ZIP code, necessary information can be easily known about the package, especially in terms of shipping rate and duration of delivery.

2. Statistics Functions

It is on record that as of October 2019, there are about 41,702 ZIP codes in the United States.

ZIP codes is effectively used in the gathering of geographical statistics in the United States.

The calculation of boundaries approximately by the U.S. Census Bureau is done using the ZIP codes areas.

To this effect, statistical census data are subsequently given for these areas approximately.

Meanwhile, some of the geographic data given for these areas are the latitude and longitude of the center-point of the ZCTAs, which are about 32,000 ZCTAs.

3. Marketing Functions

The United States ZIP codes are often used as a source of data, especially by organizations interested in strategizing effective marketing campaigns.

This is known as ZIP-code marketing.

Point-of-Sale cashiers can sometimes request consumers for their home ZIP codes.

This data helps determine the purchasing pattern data of consumers and performing businesses.

The interest of consumers and outreach of products/services are also determined this way.

Aside from the fact that ZIP codes give a data report on the purchasing habit or pattern, they can discover the location of new business establishments.

Directories can be used by retailers to assess ZIP codes with the name on credit cards.

This is necessary to get information about target consumers, such as phone numbers and house addresses.

Also, ZIP-coded data is used to assess geographic factors by companies in risk and insurance management.

As well as the banking industry, which is a practice referred to as redlining.

4. Legislative Districts Functions

In finding legislative districts in the United States, the ZIP codes may be in common use.

Although the official website of the United States House of Representatives has a “Find Your Representative” option.

This option searches for congressional districts using ZIP codes alone.

However, it redirects multiple districts related to one ZIP code.

This is because several parts of a US ZIP code can be found in different districts.

5. Internet Functions

In 1978, a proposal was made for a national system of community networks making use of United States ZIP codes for routing.

The data got is an important part of the software on many websites called dealer/store locators, particularly brick-and-click websites.

This software processes a user-input ZIP code that returns a list of business locations in a pattern of increasing proximity from the center of the requested code.

Meanwhile, customers located outside of the United States of America cannot be registered on U.S. websites.

This is because the code system is restricted to the U.S. postal network.

However, to circumvent this limitation, many websites buy postal code data from other countries.

They alternatively make allowances in situations where the ZIP code is not authenticated.

The ZIP code is used on the Internet to provide a location if a precise address is not compulsory.

However, the user’s municipality is required.

A typical example is a local news, television listings, weather forecasts, online dating, etc.

6. Credit Card Security Usage

The authorization of credit cards is done using ZIP codes, known as the Address Verification System (AVS).

This is because the ZIP code is an important part of AVS, and the merchant is expected to collect the entire address.

However, there are some cases in which ZIP codes are the only thing required for AVS.

Especially where the collection of signatures or other necessary information is not possible, like in vending machines.

US ZIP Codes

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Conclusion

From the analyzed insights above, the ZIP codes of United States have developed on purpose from just a means of collating and distributing mail.

It has more sophisticated functions, like data collation for census demographics and data gathering for security needs especially in preventing and controlling crime.

Also, they have enhanced certain aspects of internet functionalities especially as regards online shopping.

Thank you for reading.

We hope this article has answered all your queries.

Kindly share your thoughts with us in the comment section.

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