Postal / zip code polygon

[JustinAsmssen]

I need to identify the area/boundries of zip codes. What is the recommended way to get a polygon by zip code?

Thanks, Justin.

[MatthewLawton]

Ah, I should have kept reading before responding to your other post. Do you just need to see zip code boundaries (to display on a map)? Or you mentioned aggregating zip codes by their 3-digit prefix?

The USPS doesn't really map zip codes, the reason is that they have assigned zip codes to address via an address range. This would work great if odd/even address were always on opposite sides of the street and every address was arranged in numerical order in the real world, but they aren't.

Having said that, you can access interpolated zip code polygon data that isn't officially from the USPS. ESRI used to include that data on its "Data and Maps" CD/DVD with ArcGIS Desktop.

Some localities also digitize approximate zip code boundaries within their jurisdiciton. The ESRI zip codes are the only nationwide dataset that I recall seeing.

[derekswingley1]

A quick search for "zip codes" at http://gis.stackexchange.com turns up some solid resources:
Where can I obtain an up-to-date list of US ZIP Codes with Latitude and Longitude Geocodes?
Most Up-To-Date Source for US Zip Code Boundaries

That being said, "zip3" and "zip_poly" datasets still ship on the Esri Data & Map DVDs.

[KyleDixon]

It is available in the ESRI Data & Maps, you can also download from Census here: ftp://ftp2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TIGER2013/ZCTA5/

We're currently working on a ZIP Code boundary shapefile product, it's going through legal processes now, I'm not sure when it'll be available though.

One issue you'll have with ZIP polys is that they always follow feature lines, like roads. Often both sides of a road are delivered by the same ZIP, and parcels adjacent to them on one side will be another ZIP.

[IanMurray]

Kyle that Census link is for Zip Code Tabulated Areas(ZCTA's) not for the actual zip codes.