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0 pointsy-c-o-m-b6mo ago0 comments

Yep, this fact eluded me earlier in the year. I was supposed to map out all ZIP codes in the US and color their boundaries based on certain stats we had. We were surprised to find many areas in the US were empty because they didn't have ZIP codes. I did a quick search and found out ZIP codes are driven by mail routes, and that instantly made sense to me, but the product stakeholders were very surprised to learn it.

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paulsmith6mo ago

One thing I just recalled is that if you maintain a small exceptions lookup table (i.e. the ones that span state boundaries), you can use ZIP Codes as a way to uniquely look up a county name.

graywh6mo ago

ZIP codes also span county boundaries that aren't state boundaries -- I know of several in my county alone

mulmen6mo ago

Why would you do this?

paulsmith6mo ago

For example, health care plans in the US are county-specific with regard to premiums, co-pays, etc. (based on demographics). Allowing someone to type in their ZIP Code to get started can be a better user experience than having them pick their county.

https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/

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0 pointsy-c-o-m-b6mo ago0 comments

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paulsmith6mo ago

One thing I just recalled is that if you maintain a small exceptions lookup table (i.e. the ones that span state boundaries), you can use ZIP Codes as a way to uniquely look up a county name.

graywh6mo ago

ZIP codes also span county boundaries that aren't state boundaries -- I know of several in my county alone

mulmen6mo ago

Why would you do this?

paulsmith6mo ago

https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/

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