Using ZCTA (Census ZipCode) polygones

Are zip codes polygons?

People often think of mapping in the US as a hierarchy of ever-subdivided polygonal areas: states, counties, cities, zip codes. If they need higher resolution than a county, they next leap to zip codes because they think of zip codes as polygonal areas. But that is a mistake, since Zip codes are not areas.

What does ZCTA stand for?

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are generalized areal representations of United States Postal Service (USPS) ZIP Code service areas. The USPS ZIP Codes identify the individual post office or metropolitan area delivery station associated with mailing addresses.
 

What is the difference between a census tract and ZIP Code?

More about census tracts. 1. Census tracts are polygons and cover a well-defined geographic area. ZIP codes are clusters of lines; the U.S. Postal Service does not define ZIP Code boundaries.

Is there a pattern to ZIP Codes?

There is none. Postal/zip codes around the world don’t follow a common pattern. In some countries they are made up by numbers, in others they can be combinations of numbers an letters, some can contain spaces, others dots, the number of characters can vary from two to at least six

How are ZIP codes determined?

ZIP Codes are numbered with the first digit representing a certain group of U.S. states, the second and third digits together representing a region in that group (or perhaps a large city) and the fourth and fifth digits representing a group of delivery addresses within that region.

Are ZIP codes equal in population?

It turns out that about 70% of Americans live in the zip codes in the top 20th percentile of population. To include 80% of the population, you have to include the top 27% of zip codes. But a power law implies more than just the 80-2o rule.
 

What is zip3 and zip5?

3 digit ZIP codes represent larger areas around the nation. A 3-digit ZIP code is simply the first three digits of a 5-digit ZIP code. So for Massachusetts, the 3-digit ZIP code numbers would include 021 and 019. The 5-digit ZIP code where I grew up was 01966.
 

What is the structure of a zip code?

ZIP Codes are numbered with the first digit representing a certain group of U.S. states, the second and third digits together representing a region in that group (or perhaps a large city) and the fourth and fifth digits representing a group of delivery addresses within that region.

Is a zip code ordinal?

Based on the above definitions, we decide that a US postal ZIP code is a nominal variable because it is not quantitative data that can have arithmetic operations done on it, so it cannot be discrete or continuous. It also cannot be put in a progressive order, so it is not ordinal.

Is zip code a Geo dimension?

Geo dimensions are terms or entities used to differentiate between geographic borders. These include divisions made by physical or virtual borders such as zip codes, states and provinces.