If you have ever quoted a customer the wrong shipping price, zones were probably the reason. USPS does not charge by state or by how long the trip takes. It charges by zone, a number from 1 to 9 that depends on the distance between the ZIP code the package leaves from and the ZIP code it is going to.
How a zone is assigned
USPS measures the distance between the sectional center facilities that serve the two ZIP codes and buckets it into a band. The bands have been stable for years:
| Zone | Distance |
|---|---|
| 1 | Up to 50 miles |
| 2 | 51 to 150 miles |
| 3 | 151 to 300 miles |
| 4 | 301 to 600 miles |
| 5 | 601 to 1,000 miles |
| 6 | 1,001 to 1,400 miles |
| 7 | 1,401 to 1,800 miles |
| 8 | Over 1,800 miles |
| 9 | Freely Associated States only |
Priority Mail prices zones 1 and 2 the same, so most rate cards show them as a single column. Ground Advantage and Priority Mail Express use the full ladder.
Which services care about zones
- Ground Advantage: zoned for every weight.
- Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express: zoned, except for flat rate boxes and envelopes, which cost the same to every zone.
- Media Mail and Bound Printed Matter: Media Mail is not zoned; Bound Printed Matter is.
- UPS and FedEx: use their own zone charts with the same idea, numbered 2 through 8.
Four ways sellers use zones
- Price shipping by zone instead of a flat national rate. Most carts can map ZIP ranges to shipping prices, and zone 2 to zone 8 can be a difference of 60 percent on a 2 lb package.
- Consider Priority Mail flat rate once a box is heavy and going far. A medium flat rate box beats weight-based Priority Mail from roughly zone 5 upward at 5 lb and above.
- Compare carriers on every order. A zone 8 USPS shipment is often cheaper by UPS Ground Saver, and a zone 2 UPS shipment is usually cheaper by USPS. Rate shopping is where the money is.
- Pick a warehouse or a 3PL that puts most of your customers in zones 1 to 4. Shipping from the middle of the country keeps the whole map inside zone 6.
Check a route
Our USPS Zone Map shows the zone between any two ZIP codes and a map of zones from your location to the major metros. For the actual price, the Shipping Calculator returns live rates for every carrier on the route, cheapest first.
Try it on a real route
The USPS Zone Map and the Shipping Calculator are free, no account needed.