i love graphics: zip code map

This is so awesome. Visualization guru Robert Kosara at eagereyes.org has written a script to visualize the relationships between zipcodes and population within state borders. Check it out:

What would happen if you were to 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 idea for the ZIPScribble came from playing with Ben Fry's excellent zipdecode. That little applet 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. Jeffrey Heer has reimplemented zipdecode using his prefuse toolkit, and provides a file containing ZIP codes and coordinates. So off I went on a little programming exercise to see what simply connecting the dots would do.

This guy is so awesome. I could spend a whole day on his site. Go there now.

Comments

[Blaise Pascal]

5-digit ZIP codes are broken down into 3 fields: The first digit represents a large, usually multistate area; the 2nd and 3rd represent a region within that area, and the last two represent individual post offices within that region. You can clearly see the 2nd/3rd digit regional areas clearly on the map, while the individual post offices within each region are somewhat random.

[Maponics]

You can download free one and 2 digit ZIP Code maps, and purchase regular 5 digit ZIP Code maps from our site.