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USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons

52 points munro 46 minutes ago 23 comments

untessela 37 minutes ago | parent

starting at $10k

LPisGood 16 minutes ago | parent

Is that the real pricing?

foxfired 19 minutes ago | parent

I feel like this should be public. I wonder what would be the repercussion of a gofundme to buy it once and make it publicly available. There aren't many downsides of updating every couple years.

garciasn 16 minutes ago | parent

There are plenty of 'good enough' options that are free; just ignore the USPS' offerings unless you ABSOLUTELY have to match them 1:1 for business reasons.

uqual 11 minutes ago | parent

https://postalpro.usps.com/ZCB_License would seem to prevent such a use/distribution of the data.

jackconsidine 17 minutes ago | parent

Seeing enterprise

We use https://github.com/OpenDataDE/State-zip-code-GeoJSON - it's from 2010, but open it in Claude and use the free-to-download data source to regen from the most recent census.

mzagaja 17 minutes ago | parent

As someone who has done tons of geospatial work I hate this. A ZIP code was never technically a geospatial boundary. Being "inside" a boundary does not guarantee you have that ZIP code, just that the space is surrounded by a bunch of postal delivery addresses bearing the ZIP code.

biker142541 11 minutes ago | parent

Polygons do have value in some workflows, if used with the appropriate caveats.

And in no instances have I ever run across use cases where these are worth paying any substantial money for. If USPS is going to jump into the fray here, really bad look (and probably net negative revenue for them) to offer as a paid product.

readthenotes1 16 minutes ago | parent

The USPS is losing money hand over fist delivering the unwanted junk mail and Christmas cards we throw away once the tree is put away.

I don't think this will stop the bleed, but maybe it'll help that they are charging??

whalesalad 12 minutes ago | parent

i have a hole in my pool... thousands of gallons per day are draining into the neighbors yard

oh, so are you having someone come out to patch the hole and fix it?

no, the hole is still there. we are spending 3k per month to get a water delivery truck to refill the pool.

konfusinomicon 7 minutes ago | parent

blame EDDM, aka junk mail, aka physical SPAM that you can not opt out of. its a jobs program that I suppose also benefits the paper product recycling industry

reaperducer 1 minute ago | parent

The USPS is losing money hand over fist delivering the unwanted junk mail

The fact that you think the Postal Service loses money delivering junk mail shows that you don't have any idea what's going on.

Junk mail is a massive revenue source for the USPS. According to the congressmen I've spoken with (Yes, I actually have done that), junk mail is hugely revenue positive, which is why it's allowed to continue.

USPS' financial problems largely have to do with pensions and other non-delivery issues.

showerst 14 minutes ago | parent

I thought these were going to be free and got so excited.

FWIW if you're willing to deal with some 'fuzziness' and the occasional missing zip code that's commercial only, the ZCTA shapefiles are free and are close enough for many purposes: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/g...

whalesalad 14 minutes ago | parent

of course they are going to try and monetize this. that's trump's america.

biker142541 10 minutes ago | parent

Try is the key word. It won't work.

konfusinomicon 5 minutes ago | parent

this data has been monetized for decades

1-6 13 minutes ago | parent

Webapp in 3.2.1...

pimlottc 5 minutes ago | parent

Huge.info has existed for decades:

https://maps.huge.info/zip.htm

ortusdux 11 minutes ago | parent

I'm sure their system has its faults, but I find shipping to the UK via postal code quite easy.

"A full postcode identifies a group of addresses (typically around ten) or a major delivery point."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcodes_in_the_United_Kingdo...

reaperducer 5 minutes ago | parent

"A full postcode identifies a group of addresses (typically around ten) or a major delivery point."

The United States can be more granular, as a "full postcode" equivalent in the United States is ZIP+4, which can resolve down to an individual building, mailbox, or person, depending on the characteristics of the location.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_Code#ZIP+4

twodave 1 minute ago | parent

And even for those where it isn’t one exact person/box there is a 2 digit delivery point code that often is included on the end.

konfusinomicon 10 minutes ago | parent

bottom line is that this should be open source and available on the US governments dataset website.

johnnyo 5 minutes ago | parent

If this is govt-owned data, shouldn’t it be available with a FOIA request or similar?

Can someone with expertise in govt data rights explain? Do any other US govt agencies sell data to the private sector?