About the ZIPScribble Map

What happens if you connect all the ZIP codes in the US in ascending order? Is there a system behind the assignment of ZIP codes? Are they organized in a grid? The result is surprising and much more interesting than expected.

The lines make patterns appear and emphasize the density distribution between different parts of the country. The scribbling quality of the lines (looks like somebody was bored while talking on the phone) led to the clever name for the map.

There seem to be dividing lines between clusters of lines. Might those be state lines? Let's zoom in on the southeast.

These are all the U.S. ZIP codes starting with 3, and it appears that they span Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee – in order of increasing numerical ZIP code. Interestingly, the ZIP codes in the 39xxx block start in Mississippi and end back in Georgia (38xxx also spans two states, Tennessee and Mississippi).

You can explore all of this yourself on the interactive map.

Inspiration

The idea for the ZIPScribble came from Ben Fry's excellent zipdecode. That little app allows you to explore the ZIP codes interactively, and reveals some very interesting patterns. What it does not give you, however, is an idea of the overall structure of the ZIP space. I wanted to see what simply connecting the dots would do.

Is this visualization? Sure, because it shows data. Is it useful? Probably not. But it sure is surprising and interesting, rather like a fractal image.

Explore the Map

I've created ZIP/postal code scribble maps not just for the US, but 39 countries (though the data quality seems to be a little uneven, unfortunately):

Argentina · Australia · Austria · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Canada · Croatia · Czech Republic · Denmark · Finland · France · Germany · Greenland · Hungary · Iceland · India · Italy · Japan · Lithuania · Mexico · Netherlands · New Zealand · Norway · Pakistan · Philippines · Poland · Portugal · Russia · Slovakia · Slovenia · South Africa · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Thailand · United Kingdom · United States