What Are Usps Shipping Zones In 2022? (Your Full Guide)
One of the best things about the United States Postal Service is that they cover literally every square mile of the U.S. They will deliver your mail to any residential address.
You won’t be charged the exact same amount to ship to another state or town. Because of USPS shipping zone restrictions, this is possible.
What are the USPS Shipping Zones in 2022
United States Postal Service’s zone system for shipping is a unique method to calculate the postage cost and speed of delivery. Based on customer zip codes, there are 9 zones. The closest zone is 1 and the furthest destination is 9.
How Do USPS Zones Work?
If you and your friend in a different city looked at a map of the United States’ postal zones, believe it or not, your maps would look totally different.
The reason is that, while USPS shipping regions are generally broken into nine distinct regions, these regions are personalized based upon the origin zip code.
ShippingSchool.com does a good breakdown of what the different zones mean:
Zone 9: Freely Associated States and U.S. territories, like Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.
As a general rule, it is more costly to ship from faraway zones than you do within the same zone.
These figures show how shipping to California from Arizona, for example, will cost less for someone living there than it would for someone living here in Georgia.
Once you’ve identified the area in which you live and determined where your mailpiece will arrive, you’ll be able access USPS.com to check its price page.
All mail doesn’t depend on postage zones; USPS Marketing, Library, and First-Class mail all ship the same amount regardless of destination.
Priority Mail, Priority Express and USPS Retail Ground are some of the zoned services.
Let’s look at the Priority Mail price breakdown for an example.
One pound or less parcels will be sent locally within Zones 1, 2 and 3 at a starting price of $7.95
Say someone lived in Pittsburgh, zip code 15213 (the majority of which is the University of Pittsburgh’s campus in Oakland).
One pound could be shipped. parcel within the 15213 zip code, as well as to part of West Virginia, most of Western PA, and well into Ohio for that $7.95.
These are also the fastest shipping methods. A shipment sent Priority to about half of an area might be delivered in one day.
The parcel would be delivered within 2 days to recipients in Zone 1 or 2.
Priority Mail delivery would be free to any member of either Zone 1 or 2 (provided that there weren’t delays).
This Zone Map was a great resource from PirateShip.com that I combined with the USPS.com Priority mail Delivery Map.
You can also make use of the USPS.com Domestic Zone Map.
How are USPS Shipping Zones Calculated
The distances are determined by USPS using radiuses.
From looking at a map, you can see the zones aren’t drawn as perfect circles, but close approximations, adhering to the general distance rules.
This page shows the distance breakdown for each zone.
It is interesting to me that the shipping zone system includes zip codes in middle of country. This could be 67460 for McPherson County (Kansas).
This central location means that they are home to very few Zone 7 zones – only Maine and some zip codes in Pacific Northwest.
For these lucky residents, the vast majority of their zoned shipping costs would fall under Zone 6 or less.
What does the USPS Zone Effect on Shipping Prices?
USPS will charge more for services such as mail-ins from Washington, D.C. and California.
Priority Mail, Priority Express and USPS Retail Ground are some of the zoned services.
You will also receive the First-Class Packet for orders 13 ounces and less.
Basically, the further a mailpiece has to go, the more it will cost with these zoned services.
However, certain services will see an increase in their price more than others.
For example, a 1-oz. A 1-oz. parcel costs $4.30 in Zone 1 and 2 while it only goes up to $4.75 when you move into Zone 9.
For Zone 1, 2 and Local shipping only, a 50-pound envelope is $23 and $46.90 respectively.
See the Pricing for Priority Mail packages at 70 Pounds. (The maximum weight). Local + Zone 1 & 2 Shipping starts at $166.15
You might wonder why some services cost so much by the Postal Service. The Postal Service uses this zonal approach.
USPS is not funded by taxpayer funds, if you didn’t know. The Postal Service is reliant on sales alone.
Yes. It is an U.S. government agency but it’s still an independent agency with greater self-regulatory powers than any fully funded agencies.
It doesn’t matter if the shipping cost is higher. The goal is to be functional as long as possible. Unfortunately, this becomes increasingly difficult each quarter.
What is the best way to find your USPS Postal Zone number?
You can find your local zone, as well as all the other zones relative to your specific location by using the USPS.com Domestic Zone Calculator.
Visual learners will love this PirateShip.com chart. This map gives you a colour-coded guide through each zone.
Keep in mind that there is not one zone per zip code. Instead, each zone has its own time zone. Zones can change based upon each zip code.
What are USPS International Zones (USPS)?
To find out the cost of sending mail overseas, use USPS International Zones.
Although they are called Price Groups by the USPS, you could think of them as domestic zones.
There is an important difference though: The international price category a country can be in may vary depending on its shipping carrier.
Croatia’s price group 4 is if you ship via Global Express Guaranteed. Group 3 for Priority Express International.
Then it’s in Group 8 for Priority Flat-Rate International.
Many countries around the globe are similar.
For example, you could ship 5 lb. of food to Croatia. Global Express Guaranteed costs $243.40.
Priority Express International costs $97.50.
Priority Flat-Rate International has Croatia as Group 8. For items between 4.1 lbs and 20 lbs, the medium Flat-Rate Box is available. This box would run $85.
USPS International Groups have a consistency that transcends domestic zones. This means you can use the USPS International Groups regardless of where your location is in the U.S.
You can read more information about shipping by visiting our posts related to whether USPS ships directly to Puerto Rico or Canada.
USPS shipping areas are specific to every zip code in the U.S. with each zone representing a different distance from their starting point.
The further away the zones are, the more it costs to ship with Priority Mail, Priority Express, or Priority Express.
.What Are Usps Shipping Zones In 2022? (Your Full Guide)
