Abstract

A crosswalk dataset matching US ZIP codes to corresponding census tracts

Documentation

The denominators used to calculate the address ratios are the ZIP code totals. When a ZIP is split by any of the other geographies, that ZIP code is duplicated in the crosswalk file.

**Example: **ZIP code 03870 is split by two different Census tracts, 33015066000 and 33015071000, which appear in the tract column. The ratio of residential addresses in the first ZIP-Tract record to the total number of residential addresses in the ZIP code is .0042 (.42%). The remaining residential addresses in that ZIP (99.58%) fall into the second ZIP-Tract record.

So, for example, if one wanted to allocate data from ZIP code 03870 to each Census tract located in that ZIP code, one would multiply the number of observations in the ZIP code by the residential ratio for each tract associated with that ZIP code.

https://redivis.com/fileUploads/4ecb405e-f533-4a5b-8286-11e56bb93368%3E" alt="">(Note that the sum of each ratio column for each distinct ZIP code may not always equal 1.00 (or 100%) due to rounding issues.)

Census tract definition

A census tract, census area, census district or meshblock is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Sometimes these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exist within a county. In unincorporated areas of the United States these are often arbitrary, except for coinciding with political lines.

Further reading

The following article demonstrates how to more effectively use the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) United States Postal Service ZIP Code Crosswalk Files when working with disparate geographies.

Wilson, Ron and Din, Alexander, 2018. “Understanding and Enhancing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s ZIP Code Crosswalk Files,” Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, Volume 20 Number 2, 277 – 294. URL: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol20num2/ch16.pdf

Contact information

Questions regarding these crosswalk files can be directed to Alex Din with the subject line HUD-Crosswalks.

Acknowledgement

This dataset is taken from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) office: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/usps_crosswalk.html#codebook

Includes Maryland Zip Codes and their corresponding cities/towns, and counties.

A listing of NYS counties with accompanying Federal Information Processing System (FIPS) and US Postal Service ZIP codes sourced from the NYS GIS Clearinghouse.

This dataset contains all zip codes in Montgomery County. Zip codes are the postal delivery areas defined by USPS. Zip codes with mailboxes only are not included.

As this is geographic data, SHP and KMZ formats are available for download.

Chatham County, NC Zip Code polygons as maintained by the Chatham County E-911 Addressing Specialist. The original dataset comes from the Census Bureau which releases the GIS data to the public in the form of TIGER/Line Shapefiles. The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation. ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are approximate area representations of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) ZIP Code service areas that the Census Bureau creates to present statistical data for each decennial census. The Census Bureau delineates ZCTA boundaries for the United States, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands once each decade following the decennial census. Data users should not use ZCTAs to identify the official USPS ZIP Code for mail delivery. The USPS makes periodic changes to ZIP Codes to support more efficient mail delivery. The Census Bureau uses tabulation blocks as the basis for defining each ZCTA. Tabulation blocks are assigned to a ZCTA based on the most frequently occurring ZIP Code for the addresses contained within that block. The most frequently occurring ZIP Code also becomes the five-digit numeric code of the ZCTA. These codes may contain leading zeros. Blocks that do not contain addresses but are surrounded by a single ZCTA (enclaves) are assigned to the surrounding ZCTA. Because the Census Bureau only uses the most frequently occurring ZIP Code to assign blocks, a ZCTA may not exist for every USPS ZIP Code. Some ZIP Codes may not have a matching ZCTA because too few addresses were associated with the specific ZIP Code or the ZIP Code was not the most frequently occurring ZIP Code within any of the blocks where it exists. The ZCTA boundaries in this release are those delineated following the 2010 Census.Chatham GIS SOP: "MAPSERV-14"

One of the many challenges that social science researchers and practitioners face is the difficulty of relating data between census tracts which are re-delineated with each decennial census. While some methods of harmonizing or crosswalking data between census tracts exist, to provide additional avenues for merging these data, PD&R has released the HUD-USPS Census Tract Crosswalk Files. These unique files are derived from the USPS Vacancy Data which are regularly updated by the USPS which makes them uniquely positioned to describe human settlements patterns between census tract delineations. These data use the locations of ZIP+4 centroids, an extremely granular level of geography, the number of addresses of various types (residential, business, other, and total), and do not rely on ancillary data to map where population or households might be located.There are twelve types of crosswalk files available for download. The first six crosswalk files are used to allocate ZIP codes to Census Bureau geographies such as census tracts, counties, county subdivisions, Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs), CBSA Divisions, and Congressional Districts. The last six are used to allocate from those same Census Bureau geographies to ZIP Codes. It is important to note that the relationship between the two types of crosswalk files is not perfectly inverse. That is to say, the ZIP to Tract crosswalk file cannot be used to allocate data from census tract geographies to ZIP codes. Instead, the Tract to ZIP crosswalk file must be used in that specific scenario.In addition to the crosswalk files, this dataset also includes screenshots of HUDs documentation and FAQ pages.

The 2020 Zip Code Boundaries dataset contains boundary information for Zip Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) as of the 2020 Census, sourced from the United States Census Bureau. ZCTAs are statistical representations of USPS ZIP Code service areas and are used for demographic analysis, data aggregation, and geographic reference purposes. This dataset includes boundary polygons for each ZCTA, allowing users to visualize and analyze ZIP Code boundaries within Montgomery County, Texas.Data Fields Included:ZCTA CodeAreaThis dataset is sourced from the United States Census Bureau.Data source: United States Census Bureau TIGER Data

One of the many challenges that social science researchers and practitioners face is the difficulty of relating United States Postal Service (USPS) ZIP codes to Census Bureau geographies. There are valuable data available only at the ZIP code level that, when combined with demographic data tabulated at various Census geography levels, could open up new avenues of exploration.While some acceptable methods of combining ZIP codes and Census geography exist, they have limitations. To provide additional avenues for merging these data, PD&R has released the HUD-USPS Crosswalk Files. These unique files are derived from data in the quarterly USPS Vacancy Data. They originate directly from the USPS; are updated quarterly, making them highly responsive to changes in ZIP code configurations; and reflect the locations of both business and residential addresses. The latter feature is of particular interest to housing researchers because many of the phenomena that they study are based on housing unit or address. By using an allocation method based on residential addresses rather than by area or by population, analysts can take into account not only the spatial distribution of population, but also the spatial distribution of residences. This enables a slightly more nuanced approach to allocating data between disparate geographies. Please note that the USPS Vacancy Data is constructed from ZIP+4 data that contains records of addresses, it does not contain ZIP+4 data that are associated with ZIP codes that exclusively serve Postal Office Boxes (PO Boxes). As a result, ZIP codes that only serve PO Boxes will not appear in the files.In addition to the crosswalk files, this dataset also includes screenshots of HUDs documentation and FAQ pages.Understanding ZIP Code Crosswalk FilesThough often used for mapping, spatial analysis, and data aggregation careful attention is required when interpreting ZIP Code data relative to other administrative geographies. The following article demonstrates how to more effectively use the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) United States Postal Service ZIP Code Crosswalk Files when working with disparate geographies.Wilson, Ron and Din, Alexander, 2018. “Understanding and Enhancing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s ZIP Code Crosswalk Files,” Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, Volume 20 Number 2, 277 – 294. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol20num2/ch16.pdfUsing a GIS to Geoprocess ZIP Code Crosswalk FilesThis article demonstrates how to use a GIS to process ZIP Code Crosswalk Files. In this article, calls for service from New York City's Open Data Portal are estimated at the county-level and census tract-level. This article also includes an accuracy analysis.Din, Alexander and Wilson, Ron, 2020. "Crosswalking ZIP Codes to Census Geographies: Geoprocessing the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s ZIP Code Crosswalk Files," Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, Volume 22, Number 1, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol22num1/ch12.pdf

US Postal Service ZIP Code boundaries. This layer was created by Los Angeles County eGIS to align with parcel boundaries.ZIP is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan.Legal vs. Postal Cities: Many users confuse the name the Post Office delivers mail to (e.g. Van Nuys, Hollywood) as a legal city (in this case Los Angeles), when they are a postal city. The County contains 88 legal cities, and over 400 postal names that are tied to the ZIP Codes. To support usability and geocoding, we have attached the first 3 postal cities to each address, based upon its ZIP Code.The US Postal Service is the authoritative source for ZIP Code data. See their website for more information.

Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas This feature layer, utilizing National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA) data from the U.S. Census Bureau, displays ZIP Code Tabulation Areas in the United States. Per the USCB, “ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are approximate area representations of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) ZIP Code service areas that the Census Bureau creates to present statistical data for each decennial census. Data users should not use ZCTAs to identify the official USPS ZIP Code for mail delivery. The USPS makes periodic changes to ZIP Codes to support more efficient mail delivery.” Tabulation Area: 90069 Data currency: This cached Esri federal service is checked weekly for updates from its enterprise federal source (ZIP Code Tabulation Areas) and will support mapping, analysis, data exports and OGC API – Feature access.NGDAID: 58 (Series Information for 2020 Census 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA5) National TIGER/Line Shapefiles, Current) OGC API Features Link: (Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas - OGC Features) copy this link to embed it in OGC Compliant viewers For more information, please visit: ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs)For feedback please contact: Esri_US_Federal_Data@esri.comThumbnail source: Esri Basemaps NGDA Data Set This data set is part of the NGDA Governmental Units, and Administrative and Statistical Boundaries Theme Community. Per the Federal Geospatial Data Committee (FGDC), this theme is defined as the "boundaries that delineate geographic areas for uses such as governance and the general provision of services (e.g., states, American Indian reservations, counties, cities, towns, etc.), administration and/or for a specific purpose (e.g., congressional districts, school districts, fire districts, Alaska Native Regional Corporations, etc.), and/or provision of statistical data (census tracts, census blocks, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, etc.). Boundaries for these various types of geographic areas are either defined through a documented legal description or through criteria and guidelines. Other boundaries may include international limits, those of federal land ownership, the extent of administrative regions for various federal agencies, as well as the jurisdictional offshore limits of U.S. sovereignty. Boundaries associated solely with natural resources and/or cultural entities are excluded from this theme and are included in the appropriate subject themes." For other NGDA Content: Esri Federal Datasets

This data set contains all zip codes within Delaware County, Ohio. In 2003, Delaware County zip codes were carefully evaluated and cleaned-up based on cross referencing between the Census Bureau's zip code file from the 2000 census, the United States Postal Service website, and tax mailing addresses from the treasurer's office. The zip code layer was then created in 2005 by dissolving all Delaware County parcels by their property addresses. Tax exempt parcels and dedicated roads with no zip codes were manually populated based on their location within the zip code layer. This layer was also used to populate the zip_right and zip_left attributes for Delaware County's road centerline.

Edited by MetroSafe. Efforts were made to include/exclude specific Address points from ZIP code regions. As a result, boundary areas not conforming to coincident parcel boundary, road edge, or street centerline features should be seen as interpolated/extrapolated, and not geographically certain beyond a general measure. View detailed metadata.

The ZIP Codes feature class shows the USPS ZIP Code boundaries within Maricopa County, Arizona.

Approximate areas covered by each US Postal Service (USPS) Zip Code in San Diego County. Areas are approximate boundaries only as determined by SanGIS and SanGIS JPA member users and associates. Does not represent an official depiction of USPS Zip Code boundaries. Does not represent all zip codes that may be used in the County. Certain Zip Codes are assigned for post office boxes only and cannot be represented by polygons. Note that the USPS does not define a Zip Code as an area. USPS defines a zip code as the identifier for the post office that mail will be delivered from. SanGIS Zip Code boundaries are approximated from situs addresses and information received from SanGIS JPA members and associates.

A Listing of Oregon City-Zipcodes and the County

March 2024

HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) announced that HUD-USPS ZIP Code Crosswalk data are now available via an application programming interface (API). With this API, developers can easily access and customize crosswalk data for use in existing applications or to create new applications. To create an account and get an access token, please visit the API page here: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/dataset/uspszip-api.html.

The dataset represents approximate Zip code boundaries in Westchester County. Data was downloaded from the U.S. Census Bureau 2020. The cartographic boundary files are simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the Census Bureau’s MAF/TIGER geographic database. These boundary files are specifically designed for small-scale thematic mapping. Some of the boundaries near CT were edited to match the state line. This is NOT official Postal Service data. The data was updated in August 2025.