--- title: What Your Zip Code Says About You description: In an age of information, it's harder than ever to hide who you really are. canonical: https://time.com/3513053/zip-code-esri/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-16T16:27:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:13:50.281Z og:title: Find Out What Your Zip Code Says About og:description: In an age of information, it's harder than ever to hide who you really are og:url: https://time.com/3513053/zip-code-esri/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd6cc44a73f90c75/69876111e53aba4fe64d50f9/zip-code-say-about-you.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: zip-code-say-about-you og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Find Out What Your Zip Code Says About twitter:description: In an age of information, it's harder than ever to hide who you really are twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd6cc44a73f90c75/69876111e53aba4fe64d50f9/zip-code-say-about-you.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Your Zip Code Says About You  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Oct 16, 2014 4:27 PM UTC  Keith J. R. Binns—Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Oct 16, 2014 4:27 PM UTC U.S. zip codes were [designed](https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100%5F076.htm) in 1963 to tell USPS how to sort your mail — but now they might tell others how you live your life. Software company [Esri’s Tapestry Segmentation project](http://www.esri.com/data/esri%5Fdata/ziptapestry) has combined U.S. Census demographic data with marketing data to offer a picture how we live — whether you’re spending Saturdays in line for the opera or for government assistance, or if you’re getting takeout from Chick-fil-A or Whole Foods. All you have to do is enter your zip code to receive your postal code horoscope. You can also look up zip codes of places you’d like to visit, relocate or expand your business. In an age of [big data](http://time.com/the-answers-issue/), there’s seemingly no end to what the boundless flows of information can tell us — everything from [who we want to sleep with](http://time.com/3302251/9-ugly-truths-big-data-ok-cupid-book/) to [when we’ll discover alien life](http://time.com/alien-life/). **Read more:** [**Here Are The Best Cities For Trick-or-Treating**](http://time.com/3506272/best-cities-halloween-trick-or-treat/?xid=time%5Freadnext) Here’s what Esri has to say about a few places in America: In 89412, the zip code of a rural Nevada town that’s so isolated it’s the [farthest point](http://www.foodbeast.com/2014/04/25/this-is-the-farthest-spot-from-a-mcdonalds-in-the-lower-48-states/) in the continental U.S. from a McDonald’s: --- > “” --- In 33109, [America’s richest zip code](http://money.cnn.com/gallery/luxury/2014/06/11/richest-zip-codes/) of Fisher Island, Fla., where the median income is over $1 million: --- > “” --- In 48503, the zip code of Flint, Mich., the U.S. city with the [highest murder rate:](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/14/despite-recent-shootings-chicago-nowhere-near-u-s-murder-capital/) --- > “” --- In 99723, the zip code of Barrow, Alaska, the [northernmost](http://www.cityofbarrow.org/) city in the U.S. that’s farther north than the Arctic Circle: --- > “” --- Click [here](http://www.esri.com/data/esri%5Fdata/ziptapestry) to learn more about where you live. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3513053/zip-code-esri/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3513053/zip-code-esri/"},"headline":"What Your Zip Code Says About You","datePublished":"2014-10-16T16:27:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:13:50.281Z","description":"In an age of information, it's harder than ever to hide who you really are","url":"https://time.com/3513053/zip-code-esri/","keywords":["Newsfeed","U.S."],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd6cc44a73f90c75/69876111e53aba4fe64d50f9/zip-code-say-about-you.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd6cc44a73f90c75/69876111e53aba4fe64d50f9/zip-code-say-about-you.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"zip-code-say-about-you","caption":"","creditText":"Keith J. 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