ZipSearch

Ultra-fast US zipcode lookup library with 100% backwards compatibility

ZipSearch is a drop-in replacement for uszipcode that delivers >600x faster zipcode lookups and >50,000x faster city/state searches by using pre-built RAM indices instead of SQLite queries.

Key Features

• Blazing Fast: RAM-based O(1) lookups instead of SQLite queries
• 100% Compatible: Drop-in replacement for uszipcode - no code changes needed
• Complete Data: All 42,724+ US zipcodes with demographics, coordinates, and boundaries
• Multiple Search Types: By zipcode, city/state, coordinates, prefix, and more
• Batch Processing: Optimized methods for bulk operations
• Memory Efficient: Pre-built indices loaded once at startup (11mb)

Performance Comparison

Installation

pip install zipsearch

Quick Start

Basic Usage (100% compatible with uszipcode)

from zipsearch import SearchEngine

search = SearchEngine()

# Zipcode lookup
zipcode = search.by_zipcode("10001")
print(f"{zipcode.major_city}, {zipcode.state}")  # New York, NY

# City and state lookup  
zipcodes = search.by_city_and_state("Chicago", "IL")
print(f"Found {len(zipcodes)} zipcodes in Chicago")

# Coordinate-based search
nearby = search.by_coordinates(40.7128, -74.0060, radius=5)
print(f"Found {len(nearby)} zipcodes within 5 miles of NYC")

Advanced Usage

from zipsearch import FastSearchEngine

engine = FastSearchEngine()

# Batch processing for DataFrames
city_state_pairs = [("New York", "NY"), ("Los Angeles", "CA"), ("Chicago", "IL")]
results = engine.batch_city_state_lookup(city_state_pairs)

# Prefix search
manhattan_zips = engine.by_prefix("100")  # All 100xx zipcodes

# State-wide search
california_zips = engine.by_state("California")

Complete API Reference

SearchEngine (Backwards Compatible)

search = SearchEngine()

# Single zipcode lookup
zipcode = search.by_zipcode("90210")

# City and state (handles full state names and abbreviations)
zipcodes = search.by_city_and_state("Beverly Hills", "California")
zipcodes = search.by_city_and_state("Beverly Hills", "CA")

# Coordinate search with radius (miles)
nearby = search.by_coordinates(34.0901, -118.4065, radius=10)

# Legacy query method (limited compatibility)
results = search.query(city="Austin", state="TX")

FastSearchEngine (New Optimized API)

engine = FastSearchEngine()

# All the same methods as SearchEngine, plus:
results = engine.by_city("Austin")  # Search by city across all states
results = engine.by_state("TX")     # All zipcodes in a state
results = engine.by_prefix("787")   # All zipcodes starting with 787

# Batch operations for ETL/DataFrame processing
batch_results = engine.batch_city_state_lookup([
    ("Austin", "TX"), 
    ("Houston", "TX"), 
    ("Dallas", "TX")
])

📊 Zipcode Data Fields

Each zipcode object contains comprehensive demographic and geographic data:

zipcode = search.by_zipcode("10001")

# Geographic
print(zipcode.lat, zipcode.lng)           # 40.7505, -73.9934
print(zipcode.timezone)                   # Eastern
print(zipcode.radius_in_miles)            # 0.9090

# Administrative
print(zipcode.major_city)                 # New York
print(zipcode.county)                     # New York County
print(zipcode.state)                      # NY
print(zipcode.zipcode_type)              # STANDARD

# Demographics
print(zipcode.population)                 # 21102
print(zipcode.population_density)         # 23227.0
print(zipcode.median_home_value)          # 1000000
print(zipcode.median_household_income)    # 85066

# Area
print(zipcode.land_area_in_sqmi)         # 0.91
print(zipcode.water_area_in_sqmi)        # 0.0

# Boundaries
print(zipcode.bounds)                     # {'west': -74.0, 'east': -73.98, ...}

# Lists (JSON decoded)
print(zipcode.common_city_list)          # ['New York']
print(zipcode.area_code_list)            # ['212', '646', '332']

Migration from uszipcode

No code changes required! Simply replace the import:

# Before
from uszipcode import SearchEngine

# After  
from zipsearch import SearchEngine

# Everything else stays the same
search = SearchEngine()
zipcode = search.by_zipcode("10001")

Performance Optimization Tips

For maximum performance in data processing workflows:

# Use FastSearchEngine for new code
from zipsearch import FastSearchEngine
engine = FastSearchEngine()

# Use batch methods for DataFrame enrichment
results = engine.batch_city_state_lookup(city_state_pairs)

# Pre-load the engine once, reuse many times
class DataProcessor:
    def __init__(self):
        self.zipcode_engine = FastSearchEngine()  # Load once
    
    def enrich_dataframe(self, df):
        # Use self.zipcode_engine for all lookups
        pass

Technical Architecture

How It Works

1. Pre-built Indices: All zipcode data is pre-processed into optimized Python dictionaries
2. Memory Loading: Indices are loaded once at startup using pickle
3. O(1) Lookups: Direct dictionary access instead of SQL queries
4. Smart Indexing: Multiple index types for different search patterns:
   • zipcode_index: Direct zipcode → data mapping
   • city_state_index: (city, state) → [zipcodes] mapping
   • coordinate_grid: Spatial grid for geographic searches

Memory Usage

• Index Size: ~50MB RAM for all US zipcode data
• Load Time: ~100ms initial startup
• Lookup Time: ~0.0003ms per operation

Data Sources

• Based on the same comprehensive dataset as uszipcode
• 42,724+ zipcodes with complete demographic and geographic data
• Regular updates to maintain data accuracy

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• No external dependencies for core functionality
• Compatible with pandas, numpy, and other data science libraries

Benchmarks

Our comprehensive benchmarks show consistent performance improvements:

=== Zipcode Lookups ===
uszipcode:  100,000 ops in 17.57s  (5,692 ops/sec)
zipsearch: 1,000,000 ops in 0.26s  (3,827,112 ops/sec)
Speedup: 670x faster

=== City/State Lookups ===  
uszipcode:    2,500 ops in 74.36s    (34 ops/sec)
zipsearch: 1,000,000 ops in 0.58s   (1,740,366 ops/sec)
Speedup: 51,674x faster

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Original uszipcode library for the comprehensive dataset and API design
• US Census Bureau for demographic data
• USPS for zipcode definitions

⚡ Ready to make your zipcode lookups 670x faster? Install zipsearch today!