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DOWNLOAD SHAPEFILES: Canada FSA Postal - Zip Code - U.S. Waterbodies & Wetlands - Geographic Names - School Districts - Indian Federal Lands
Zip Code/Demographics - Climate Change - U.S. Streams, Rivers & Waterways - Tornadoes - Nuclear Facilities - Dams & Risk - 2013 Toxic Release Inventory TRI

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Note: If you are looking for Zip Code boundary shapefiles without
demographic fields we have those also. Click here to learn more.

Discount U.S. Zip Code
Shapefiles Based on
TIGER/Line Shapefiles
with 2010 U.S. Census
Demographic Data




Why pay hundreds of dollars for Zip Code shapefiles? These ArcGIS shapefiles work with the free ArcExplorer GIS viewer, ArcView GIS, ArcGIS, Maptitude, Mapinfo, Manifold, TatukGIS and many other commercial GIS and mapping programs and many free GIS programs as well and they're much less costly than most others. Use our free Learn2Map GIS Tutorial and Atlas to add streets, highways, census information and much more to your maps for free. We have included free national level base maps with each map archive listed below. Also, check our free GIS software and free GIS ArcGIS shapefiles pages for more information and free ArcGIS shapefiles. If you are new to GIS, check out our free Learn2Map GIS Tutorial and Atlas.

Shapefile Description

These shapefiles are derived from U.S. Census TIGER/Line Shapefiles and 2010 U.S. Census demographic data (read more about the U.S. Census and Zip Code data). They are available for all 50 states and Puerto Rico by region. Each region is $97. The included readme.txt file describes the contents of the shapefiles.

Demographic data includes items such as total population, total housing units, median age, population 16 years and over, population 65 years and over, race, relationship, average household size, and many others, but does not include income information as it is not yet available for 2010 from the U.S. Census. There are 180 demographic fields included. Click here for a list of fields included.

Each Zip Code shapefile includes free U.S. base map shapefiles. Base map shapefiles include:

  • Cities
  • Roads
  • Rivers
  • States
  • Water Bodies

Immediate Download

Each regional shapefile map layer is $97. Click next to the shapefile you wish and you will have immediate access to it using our secure merchant account provider, ClickBank/Keynetics or PayPal, whichever you prefer.

Region 1 - Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont - Download Now.

Region 2 - New Jersey, New York and Puerto Rico - Download Now.

Region 3 - Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia - Download Now.

Region 4 - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee - Download Now.

Region 5 - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin - Download Now.

Region 6 - Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas - Download Now.

Region 7 - Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska - Download Now.

Region 8 - Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming - Download Now.

Region 9 - Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada - Download Now.

Region 10 - Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington - Download Now.

A Note About How Your GIS Maps Will Look

The image on this page is an example of how these shapefiles may look when loaded into a GIS program. Your GIS maps may not look exactly like this. Each GIS program is different. Shapefiles themselves are a collection of points, lines or polygons. They have no attributes. It is up to you, the user, to define colors, line width, symbols and other attributes within the limits and capabilities of the GIS programs you are using.

About the U.S. Census Zip Code Data

Not all areas in the United States have Zip Codes. The Zip Code data from Census does not provide Zip Codes for very rural areas and public lands (in western states a lot of the "public" land is military) because Zip Codes do not exist for many of these areas. Some vendors do sell "full coverage" Zip Code shapefiles. These full coverage shapefiles are not accurate as they assign Zip Codes to areas that actually do not have Zip Codes.

See the discussion below and also search the web - you'll find plenty of information about the problems associated with Zip Code data. Of the many many individuals and companies that use the shapefiles provided by MapCruzin.com only one has deemed them unsuitable. Chances are that you can save yourself a bundle and end up with very useable Zip Code data from MapCruzin.com. If you prefer to pay more, a search of the internet will list plenty of vendors. The following is from the Census FAQ.

Q15: Does the ZIP Code file you have available for downloading contain a complete and up-to-date list of ZIP Codes?

The ZIP file doesn't include all ZIP Codes because it was based only on those areas for which we had city-style addresses (which leaves out a lot of rural areas). The file was created as a byproduct of another operation (a data product based on the ZIP codes we collected with the 1990 Census data). For this Census data product, we took advantage of the fact that we had some ZIP Code data as a consequence of trying to collect addresses for the Census questionnaire mailout so we published data for those ZIP Codes. This ZIP internal point file is basically the lat/long for the ZIP Codes in that product. We put it on the Web in case anyone found it useful. It was not intended to be an authoritative source on ZIP Codes.

Note that the task of creating a lat/long or polygon file of all ZIP Codes is not as easy as it seems since ZIP Codes are not designed to be polygons and can't easily be forced into them - particularly in rural areas. To our knowledge there are no official internal point or polygon files available. However, because of the demand for ZIP Code data and maps, the Census Bureau, for Census 2000, created a new statistical area called the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA). ZCTAs are close area approximations of U.S. Postal Service ZIP Codes and were designed to overcome the difficulties of defining clear boundaries to which data could be attached.

Copyright and Use of Shapefiles

The shapefiles on this page are copyrighted as follows. Copyright © 2017 Michael R. Meuser, All Rights Reserved. You may use these shapefiles in any GIS project or to make maps. You may not create copies of the shapefiles for the use of others whether for personal or commercial use. You may not resell the shapefiles. If you require multiple copies of the same shapefile, please contact Mike at [email protected]. Thank You.

About Quality, Accuracy and Suitability

The geodata and shapefiles found at MapCruzin.com may come from a variety of government, non-governmental and self-reporting private sources. While we try to assure the accuracy of this material, we cannot promise that it is absolutely accurate. We do promise that using the map layer will be fun, entertaining or educational - possibly even frustrating. Beyond this, we make no guarantee as to its suitability for any purpose. We assume no liability or responsibility for errors or inaccuracies. Please understand that you download and use these map layers and data at your own risk.

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Michael R. Meuser
Data Research & GIS Specialist

MapCruzin.com is an independent firm specializing in GIS project development and data research. We created the first U.S. based interactive toxic chemical facility maps on the internet in 1996 and we have been online ever since. Learn more about us and our services.

Have a project in mind? If you have data, GIS project or custom shapefile needs contact Mike.

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