ZIP Range
You can define your target location using a range or ranges of ZIP codes. Besides regular ZIP codes (5-digit), SCF codes (3-digit) can be used to specify ZIP ranges. For example, 000–007, or 00000–00300.
You can also limit the results of your search to records containing ZIP+4 information within the ZIP ranges that you specified. For more information, see Order Only Records with ZIP+4.
1 On the Geography tab, click ZIP Range.
2 Specify ZIP ranges you want to include in the search. For each ZIP range, enter the start code in the From field and the end code in the corresponding To field. The start and end entries for a ZIP range must match in length, that is, be both 3-digit or both 5-digit. The end entry must be greater than or equal to the start entry.
If you do not know the start and end codes for a ZIP range, use Lookup.
1 On the ZIP Range page, click Look Up.
2 Specify search criteria. You can look up ZIP codes by one of the following:
• City. Select City in the drop-down list and enter a full or partial city name in the text box.
• County. Select County in the drop-down list and enter a full or partial county name or county code (FIPS) in the text box.
• SCF (Sectional Center Facility). Select SCF in the drop-down list and enter a 3-digit ZIP code in the text box.
If you want to narrow the search to a certain state, select it in the State list; otherwise, the system will look for cities, counties, or SCFs that match your entry in all states.
3 Click Search.
If you look up by SCF, the system displays ZIP codes that start with the 3-digit ZIP you have entered. If you look up by county or city, the system displays the list of counties or cities matching your criteria. Click a county or city name to view the list of ZIP codes for it.
4 Specify ZIP codes that you want to use as the start or end entry for a ZIP range by selecting the corresponding From or To check box accordingly.
5 Click Add Selected ZIPs.
You can omit ZIP codes in cases when you select a relatively extensive geographic area (such as an entire county, state or several states) and want a portion of that area to be excluded from the search. For example, you need all the cities in California minus Los Angeles. It would definitely be tedious to encode all the cities. What you can do is enter California under the State selection and, using the Omit feature, specify all the ZIP codes in Los Angeles. The system automatically excludes Los Angeles from your search. In some cases it is more convenient to omit a whole range of ZIP codes at once.
1 On the ZIP Range page, click Omit.
2 In the text boxes provided, specify ZIP ranges that you want to include in the search. If you do not know them, use Lookup.
To clear the text boxes of all entries, click Clear All.
If you have not made any other geographical selection and choose to omit ZIP ranges, the system assumes a nationwide search excluding the specified ZIP ranges.