USPS zone chart and zone lookup

How to use the zone lookup

1. 1

   Enter where you ship from

   Your 5-digit ZIP code, or just its first three digits.
2. 2

   Add a destination, or see the chart

   Enter a destination ZIP for a single zone, or leave it blank for the full chart by 3-digit ZIP area.
3. 3

   Price it

   Use the zone with a rate chart, or get exact live rates in the shipping calculator.

USPS zone FAQ

What is a USPS zone?

A zone is a measure of distance USPS uses to price Ground Advantage and Priority Mail. Zone 1 covers the same 3-digit ZIP area and areas within about 50 miles, and zone 8 is more than 1,800 miles away. Zone 9 is used for mail to the Freely Associated States: Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. The higher the zone, the higher the price for the same package.

How are USPS zones calculated?

From the distance between the centers of the origin and destination 3-digit ZIP code areas. Mail within one 3-digit area is zone 1. Otherwise USPS groups distances into bands: up to 50 miles is zone 1, 51–150 zone 2, 151–300 zone 3, 301–600 zone 4, 601–1,000 zone 5, 1,001–1,400 zone 6, 1,401–1,800 zone 7 and over 1,800 miles zone 8. Military mail and the Pacific islands follow special rules, explained below.

How accurate is this zone chart?

It is an estimate from public ZIP code coordinates, not USPS’s own matrix. In a check against USPS’s official charts for 73 origins in every region, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam, about 96% of ZIP areas matched exactly and nearly all of the rest were one zone off. Results marked † are close enough to a zone boundary that the official zone may differ; they included about 97% of the mismatches. For billing, use the USPS chart or a rate quote.

Does Flat Rate depend on the zone?

No. Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes and envelopes cost the same to any US address, which is why they are often cheapest for heavy items going to zones 5–8.

Do UPS and FedEx use the same zones?

They also number zones by distance (2 to 8 within the contiguous US), but each carrier publishes its own charts for each origin ZIP code, and the boundaries differ from USPS. Download them from UPS’s zone charts page and FedEx’s rate tools; ShipWave does not republish them.

Why is APO/FPO mail zoned like a US city?

Military mail is zoned to the gateway where it leaves the US mail system: New York for Armed Forces Europe (AE), Miami for Armed Forces Americas (AA) and San Francisco for Armed Forces Pacific (AP). Priority Mail and USPS Ground Advantage pieces under 1 lb going to AE and AP addresses are zoned to Chicago instead, so the tool shows both zones. Zones for mail sent from an APO/FPO/DPO address depend on the military post office, so check those with USPS’s ZIP code pair lookup.

How do zones work for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam?

Alaska, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are zoned by distance like the rest of the country. USPS zones Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Freely Associated States and AP military addresses as one area: mail between them is zone 1, and mail between that area and the mainland is zone 8. Mail sent from Palau, Micronesia or the Marshall Islands is priced by that country’s own postal operator.