Talk:List of ZIP Code prefixes

The table shows an asterisk (meaning for use in the city only) for Gary, IN (464), but the town of Merrillville, IN outside the Gary city limit has 46410 as its zip code. Should the asterisk be removed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.245.255 (talk) 22:35, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
 * No, because the Merrillville post office is a branch of the Gary post office. In this sense, "city" means the city postal area, not the area within the corporate limits, which the USPS almost never follows. 38.100.35.16 (talk) 18:26, 5 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Then the meaning of the asterisk is ambiguous.  Gary, IN is not the "default place name for all addresses" in the 464 prefix. 46405 Lake Station, and 46410 Merrillville attest to that.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.230.106.73 (talk) 15:08, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

I used to work for the USPS. There are several inconsitencies and errors on this page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.65.230.49 (talk) 13:21, 6 April 2012 (UTC)


 * We would appreciate it if you could help! Please remember that we must use verifiable sources, not your memory.  The sources for this article are listed under "References" at the end.
 * It would be great if you could discuss here the things that you think are inconsistent or erroneous. Or, just fix it!  Thanks, --BlueMoonlet (t/c) 13:41, 6 April 2012 (UTC)


 * There are some cases where a specific zip code is in a different state than its 3-letter prefix would indicate. For example, 73960 is in Texas, not Oklahoma, and 20588 is in Maryland, not DC. Here is the list I've been using: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/zip%20code%20and%20state%20abbreviations.pdf. 216.1.168.78 (talk) 20:18, 8 June 2016 (UTC)

Some pairs of adjacent SCFs are listed as "A–J"/"K–Z" (e.g., 120, 121) or "A–M"/"N–Z" (e.g., 258, 259) or the like. The page should explain what this means.&mdash;msh210 &#x2120; 14:19, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Section break
Unfortunately this page causes more confusion than clarification. Listing the just the first three digits of a US ZIP code and obtusely linking the incomplete code with a very vague geographical area may be acceptable in an abridged, archaic quick-reference portable cellulose (paper) based almanac, but due to the very relatively recent and extraordinarily rapidly efficient advancements in disciplines of economics, consumer marketing, personal electronics, telecommunications, computer science, Information Technology and Wikipedia, there is no rational excuse for not listing at least all 5 digit US ZIP-codes postal code and the jurisdictions they serve. Listing the first the Zip digits is like if paper references only listed the first three letters under a list of members of the United Nations:

"UNI" is a three letter partial code that may cover the: UNIon of Soviet Socialists Republics, UNIted Arab Emirates, UNIted Arab Republics, UNIted Kingdom, UNIted Republic of Tanzania or UNIted States, all generally the same place. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.0.37.126 (talk) 14:57, 17 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I think you misunderstand the purpose of this article. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not an indiscriminate collection of information.  The purpose here is to present information in a way that is easily understood and that is illuminating.  Highlighting the geographical connections of the first three digits of ZIP codes accomplishes that purpose.  Matching a full ZIP code with each address, on the other hand, is not our job but that of the post office website.  --BlueMoonlet (t/c) 15:48, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

Purpose of color scheme in prefix table
My question is what is the purpose of the color scheme for the prefix table. if there could be an explanation added to explain what it means there's any meaning at all would be greatly appreciated. To mean 9since not knowing what the color scheme is for. The information itself, I get and the prefix entries where the background color is white, that's self-explanatory as well. But, everything else...no.

Use way as no way; Use limitation as no limitation 10:58, 13 October 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rayghost (talk • contribs) The colours are in place to separate out the states. --  Denelson83  03:27, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Out of sequence or apocryphal zip codes?
I've seen a number of references online about a handful of zip codes in the low 000's in Alaska, but can't find anything authoritative. Are these obsolete codes? Plug entries for uninhabited wildlands? Complete nonsense?

The Duct Tape Avenger (talk) 23:08, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Is this in any way accurate?
So I looked at 207, where it says "Annapolis Junction". This prefix actually covers an area of which this is one of the most insignificant spots; at least two if not more cities are covered. In any case, however, the actual SCF for 207 is Southern Maryland. All of the other Maryland zip codes are similarly mislabelled. Frankly, I don't think this article is necessary as the article on SCFs contains all the same info, except accurate. Mangoe (talk) 05:06, 28 January 2022 (UTC)
 * It looks as though someone took a guess at what each prefix is called, often going by the lowest numbered ZIP Code in that prefix, and didn't consult the USPS lists of prefixes. It probably makes sense to merge this article into Sectional Center Facility, although the tabular format makes things easy for readers to grasp. Doctor Whom (talk) 21:26, 4 February 2022 (UTC)

The descriptions in this article
The way this article is already written, the description for a given prefix is often the location of xxx01 in that prefix. In most cases, this is actually the correct choice, because xxx01 is often given to the primary population center in a given region.

However, sometimes an entire prefix district is a portion of the vicinity of a larger population center that is outside the prefix district. The above-mentioned Annapolis Junction is such a case, in which this article erroneously used xxx01 as the description for the prefix district when in fact it is just the locality that comes first in alphabetical order. In these cases, we could go with the name of the relevant SCF (as found here), which is "Southern Maryland." However, that is not very descriptive or helpful. By using a map such as this one, it is straightforward to verify that prefix 207 corresponds to localities in Maryland that are part of suburban Washington DC, and in fact are all located to the east of the city center. Therefore, I have changed it to "Washington (DC) East". The parentheses, as already used elsewhere in this article, indicate that the population center is not in the same state as the prefix district.

More changes of this kind could probably be made, but I don't have time to work comprehensively through the article. I invite others to help. --BlueMoonlet (t/c) 15:44, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

19255
This table lists the ZIP Code prefix of 192 as unused, however the IRS service center in Philadelphia has a ZIP of 19255. I’m not aware of any other use of the prefix. Before I edit, is there any reason this is excluded? -Clubjuggle --Clubjuggle T/ C 01:48, 31 July 2023 (UTC)