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Census Data

Every 10 years, the United States government is required to count all of its citizens. This is a guide to the Decenniel Census. The government not only tries to count all of us, but also gather different types of data about all of us.

ZIP Code vs. ZCTA's

The Postal Service uses ZIP codes to deliver mail. The Census Bureau uses Zip Code Tabulating Areas (ZCTA's) to simulate ZIP codes areas for data purposes.

For an alternative viewpoint on using ZIP codes for geographic analysis, see the following article from Towards Data Science (08/04/2019): "Stop Using Zip Codes for Data Analysis."

North American lists of Postal Codes

Finding Census Data for ZCTAs

Data Online