Parent ZIP Codes

This product provides a ZIP Code for the surrounding area in which a Point ZIP is physically located. A Point ZIP is one of many U.S. Postal Service ZIP Codes that do not reflect an area where people live. They may be better described as points on a map. These are typically post-office-box-only ZIP Codes, government departments, or single businesses that obtained their own private ZIP Code due to large volume. In most cases, they are a single point or location within a larger mailing area.

Many types of datasets understandably omit Point ZIPs due to the nature of the data. For instance, Point ZIPs would be meaningless in any of our products dealing with population and/or land-area, since they have neither. Another example is data from the Census Bureau using corresponding ZCTAs (Census Bureau’s approximation of a ZIP Code). None of the ZCTAs have a corresponding USPS Point ZIP.

However, when you have a typical list of addresses (some with P.O. Boxes and other Point ZIPS) and you wish to get corresponding demographics, you will most likely want the Parent ZIP Code (the ZIP Code surrounding the Point ZIP). This product provides a cross-reference between every ZIP Code and its parent. For convenience, all ZIP Codes are listed, but only Point ZIPs will have a differing parent. See sample below. The Point ZIPs are highlighted in yellow.

ZIP	Parent ZIP	Type	State
24060	24060		VA
24061	24060	B	VA
24062	24060	E	VA
24063	24060	E	VA
24064	24064		VA
24065	24065		VA