If you ever want to send a piece of mail to someone within this country, but you don’t know that person’s 9 digit ZIP code, read on. First of all, you are not the only person to have ever been in this situation. In fact, it happens so often that lots of measures have been put in place to help people find the ZIP code for pretty much any address in the country. There are lots of online websites that allow you to search for this for free, searching by city or by the ZIP code’s first number if you remember that.

How to Use a 9 Digit Zip Code Lookup:

In order to use these services, you don’t have to know much about the recipient of your mail. All you really need is the name of the city that they live in. A 9 digit ZIP code starts by providing a number that is relevant to the particular city you are posting your mail to, so that is all you really need to know. Of course, you do need the address and house number to write on the envelope, but they are less vital in terms of finding the ZIP code.

There are lots of other interesting information available on these websites as well. Naturally, they are designed to give you the ZIP code that you are looking for, whether that is a five digit or a nine digit version. Additionally, you will be provided with the longitude and latitude readings of that location, as well as the time zone. While you may not need any of that information, it is interesting to know it. Not just that, should you want to ring them to tell them something is on its way, you will know whether they will be reachable or whether it is the middle of the night there.

The most important part of any US ZIP code are the first five digits. With the 9 digit ZIP code, a hyphen and four other digits have simply been added. However, the five digit version is the original version and those are the ones that matter the most. No matter where you are in this country, you will be in close proximity to a mail sorting office. The first number of a ZIP code represents the state area in which someone is located: 0, for instance, represents the New England states. The second and third digits, meanwhile, identify the mail center where the post will be received. Finally, digits four and five describe the city within that particular state.

Different countries use different ZIP code systems in order for postal workers to be able to get their mail to the right locations on time. Mainly, the envelopes are picked up by postmen and postwomen, and they then bring them to their appropriate destination. The mail sorting machines, meanwhile, put all the mail together in such a way that postmen only have to take bundles from the back of the van and then simply walk the circle of their chosen street.