4 ms·
One thing I just recalled is that if you maintain a small exceptions lookup table (i.e. the ones that span state boundaries), you can use ZIP Codes as a way to
by paulsmith 1y ago
One thing I just recalled is that if you maintain a small exceptions lookup table (i.e. the ones that span state boundaries), you can use ZIP Codes as a way to uniquely look up a county name.
- mulmen 1y agoWhy would you do this?
- paulsmith 1y agoFor example, health care plans in the US are county-specific with regard to premiums, co-pays, etc. (based on demographics). Allowing someone to type in their ZIP Code to get started can be a better user experience than having them pick their county. https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/ https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/
- mulmen 1y agoExcept when it isn’t. I’d be curious to know the population in areas where a zip code spans multiple counties.
- paulsmith 1y agoIn that case, each county that corresponds to that ZIP Code is shown and the user can disambiguate manually.
- mulmen 1y agoYeah it makes it easier. And I’m appreciative of the idea of making address entry easier for users but if they have to disambiguate did you actually make it easier? I think Zillow does it best. You just type your address in a box and it looks up the normalized full address. That makes everyone happy.
- graywh 1y agoZIP codes also span county boundaries that aren't state boundaries -- I know of several in my county alone