Lookup City and State by Zip Google Geocode Api [closed]

Question

I basically want to retrieve a list of city and state within a zipcode. Is Google's Geocode API capable of doing so? I've tried looking into the documentation but found the information overwhelming.

Any help would be appreciated. If there is another method of accomplishing such task, please let me know.

Thanks

EDIT: I was able to retrieve the City and State through: http://maps.google.com/maps/geo?output=xml&q=14606 but is there a limitation against that?

Buckwheat

You can use the HERE Maps Geocoding REST API. Create a project and get the REST credentials. Wait for 1 hour for them to go live (showed me an InvalidCredentials error at first) and then call e.g. geocoder.cit.api.here.com/6.2/geocode.json?PostalCode=2400&country=Denmark&app_id={APP_ID}&app_code={APP_CODE}&gen=9 (you can provide the address parts) – Gratulate

Answer 1

Use the GeoCoding API

For example, to lookup zip 77379 use a request like this:

https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=77379&sensor=true&key=YOUR_GOOGLE_PLATFORM_API_KEY

Fugitive

You mean sensor=false? – Gilbert

Jason if I enter a postal code from another country Google returns all matching results around the world. Is there a parameter where I can set an ISO country code? – Incommodity

look at the section on "Region Biasing" in the linked API doc – Fugitive

"Note: the Geocoding API may only be used in conjunction with a Google map; geocoding results without displaying them on a map is prohibited." – Inflame

An alternative is github.com/Loceo/loceo-jquery-plugin – Decoupage

@Incommodity components=country:us for example – Popsicle

Unfortunately, Loceo is dead as of 2014-09-03 – Datcha

here is a simple API also, it returns city ,state and a GeoJson boundary representation of the zipcode(or multiple) queried.: api.reaperfire.com/reaperfire/rest/v1/public/… – Lohman

@Gilbert sensor is not required anymore – Mopes

@JerylCook how can I send country to it? – Mopes

@Dejel It was when I wrote that four years ago. And if you are going to pass it for a zip code lookup, like in this answer, you should say false. – Gilbert

@Dejel , mashape.com/vanitysoft/boundaries-io is the official entry point for the API, not its US state,city, and zipcodes right now. – Lohman

@JerylCook thanks but it's for US address only. I am looking for something global – Mopes

This is the first hit on google when googling "city zip code api", and and this is obviously not that :( – Bevy

This doesnt work always. Say if your postal code is 00001, maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/…, will return an address with postal code 88030 – Traffic

You can restrict this to lookup only postal codes by setting the result_type param to postal_code. Here's a full example: maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/… – Wingover

@KevinLeary result_type does not restrict to the postal code. Google's geocoder will mistake zip codes for street address numbers (try zip 89100). Instead the format to use is maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/… as documented here: developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/… – Mew

How were you able to do this without a API key? The documentation states you have to use a API key, so I was under the impression I had to have one. – Patman

doesnt return for 97703 zip code. what can be an alternative – Almanac

@AndyRay That is only half correct. As per Google, you can display data that is not on a map but you must show the 'Powered By Google' logo near the data in the app. source: developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/policies – Hypophysis

If you need to lookup a zip code for a unique country you can do it adding to the URL parameter this: &components=country:ES (for SPAIN in my case) ... for example: maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/… – Malaya

Answer 2

I found a couple of ways to do this with web based APIs. I think the US Postal Service would be the most accurate, since Zip codes are their thing, but Ziptastic looks much easier.

Using the US Postal Service HTTP/XML API

According to this page on the US Postal Service website which documents their XML based web API, specifically Section 4.0 (page 22) of this PDF document, they have a URL where you can send an XML request containing a 5 digit Zip Code and they will respond with an XML document containing the corresponding City and State.

According to their documentation, here's what you would send:

http://SERVERNAME/ShippingAPITest.dll?API=CityStateLookup&XML=<CityStateLookupRequest%20USERID="xxxxxxx"><ZipCode ID= "0"><Zip5>90210</Zip5></ZipCode></CityStateLookupRequest>

And here's what you would receive back:

<?xml version="1.0"?> 
<CityStateLookupResponse> 
    <ZipCode ID="0"> 
        <Zip5>90210</Zip5> 
        <City>BEVERLY HILLS</City> 
        <State>CA</State> 
    </ZipCode> 
</CityStateLookupResponse>

USPS does require that you register with them before you can use the API, but, as far as I could tell, there is no charge for access. By the way, their API has some other features: you can do Address Standardization and Zip Code Lookup, as well as the whole suite of tracking, shipping, labels, etc.

Using the Ziptastic HTTP/JSON API (no longer supported)

Update: As of August 13, 2017, Ziptastic is now a paid API and can be found here

This is a pretty new service, but according to their documentation, it looks like all you need to do is send a GET request to http://ziptasticapi.com, like so:

GET http://ziptasticapi.com/48867

And they will return a JSON object along the lines of:

{"country": "US", "state": "MI", "city": "OWOSSO"}

Indeed, it works. You can test this from a command line by doing something like:

curl http://ziptasticapi.com/48867 

Adjure

Major love for the Ziptastic recommendation. <3! – Tifanie

US Postal Service will probably deny your request for access unless you are using their API for activities specifically related to mailing. At least, that's been my experience. – Highkey

"Ziptastic" is convenient to use – Shadoof

Unfortunate that it doesn't provide proper capitalization though. – Briard

how can I provide country to ziptastic? – Mopes

This answer does NOT work with international postal codes. US based only. For a global product use google. – Kileykilgore

@Highkey That's true: "The Address Validation APIs can be used in conjunction with USPS SHIPPING OR MAILING SERVICES ONLY." – Mckown

Ziptastic is no longer supported. It should not be used anymore. – Idolism

Thanks for the heads up @Vaindil. Updated the answer to reflect this. – Adjure

it doesn't surprise me that the US post office uses an XML API.... lol.... – Castiron

Updated link for documentation of USPS- usps.com/business/web-tools-apis/… – Babb

Doesn't look very "non-supported" to me getziptastic.com . That said, unless they have improved their API (which they may have), it will only return one city/state per zip code. This is quite incorrect if accuracy is important. Sometime zip codes even cross state lines, and, certainly often span more than one city. – Schramm

@RationalRabbit: I submitted an update noting that Ziptastic is now a paid API. – Adjure

Not working with UK zip code "HA88NP" – Thurmond

FYI for UPSP: User agrees to use the USPS Web site, APIs and USPS data to facilitate USPS shipping transactions only. – Inexactitude

Answer 3

function getCityState($zip, $blnUSA = true) {
    $url = "http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=" . $zip . "&sensor=true";

    $address_info = file_get_contents($url);
    $json = json_decode($address_info);
    $city = "";
    $state = "";
    $country = "";
    if (count($json->results) > 0) {
        //break up the components
        $arrComponents = $json->results[0]->address_components;

        foreach($arrComponents as $index=>$component) {
            $type = $component->types[0];

            if ($city == "" && ($type == "sublocality_level_1" || $type == "locality") ) {
                $city = trim($component->short_name);
            }
            if ($state == "" && $type=="administrative_area_level_1") {
                $state = trim($component->short_name);
            }
            if ($country == "" && $type=="country") {
                $country = trim($component->short_name);

                if ($blnUSA && $country!="US") {
                    $city = "";
                    $state = "";
                    break;
                }
            }
            if ($city != "" && $state != "" && $country != "") {
                //we're done
                break;
            }
        }
    }
    $arrReturn = array("city"=>$city, "state"=>$state, "country"=>$country);

    die(json_encode($arrReturn));
}

Sharyl

Part of your code helped me a little bit, Thanks a lot :) – Thurmond

Answer 4

couple of months back, I had the same requirement for one of my projects. I searched a bit for it and found out the following solution. This is not the only solution but I found it to one of the simpler one.

Use the webservice at http://www.webservicex.net/uszip.asmx.
Specifically GetInfoByZIP() method.

You will be able to query by any zipcode (ex: 40220) and you will have a response back as the following...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <NewDataSet>
  <Table>
   <CITY>Louisville</CITY> 
   <STATE>KY</STATE> 
   <ZIP>40220</ZIP> 
   <AREA_CODE>502</AREA_CODE> 
   <TIME_ZONE>E</TIME_ZONE> 
  </Table> 
</NewDataSet>

Hope this helps...

Arvillaarvin

URL doesn't work now! – Shechem