The United States Post Office is the premier postal agency of the world, servicing over 163 million delivery points in a consistently up to date and managed postal system. However, in a country as vast and as varied as the United States, even the USPS cannot cover every possible address that exists. This is where Non-USPS data comes in. Melissa is one of the originators of Non-USPS in the address data quality industry, and we’ve had over a decade of expertise in it.
Simply take a look at the percent of Non-USPS addresses per ZipCode across the United States in this helpful map.
Why is this data useful?
Using multiple sources, we are able to identify real addresses that exist but are not serviced by the USPS. Even though these addresses may not be serviced by the USPS, they may still:
- Get package delivery from third parties like UPS or Fedex
- Need services like utilities
- Require mobile phone activation, which could be hindered by proof of address documentation not being recognized by the carrier
- Want to indicate a real physical address for their contact even if it is not serviced by the USPS
The slider below help put in perspective exactly how vast the number of addresses not serviced by the USPS are by showing the area of Big Bear Airport as an example. The yellow dots represent USPS addresses, and the blue dots represent the Non-USPS addresses that Melissa provides.
Is the highest number of records the best metric for measuring Non-USPS addresses?
Definitely not. Melissa starts with a database of tens of millions of potential Non-USPS records, but we do not keep all of them. This is because we want real addresses. We don’t want:
- Empty plots of land with nothing on it. Example:
- Parking lots
- Utility poles, cell towers, etc.
At Melissa, we believe in data quality, not data quantity. Our cleaned database of Non-USPS addresses contains around 5 million records after our filter process removes those unwanted records to reveal actual, deliverable addresses. This way, you can trust that your deliveries and services are going to the proper addresses every time, even if they’re outside of the scope of the USPS.
The tool below shows the:
- Percentage of ZipCodes that are Non-USPS
- Count of Non-USPS addresses per ZipCode
- And a ZipCode search field to customize your search
Expand your search now by entering a Zip Code on the right search function below to find more Non-USPS addresses.
Melissa – The Address Experts
As the leader in address verification, Melissa combines decades of experience with unmatched technology and global support to offer solutions that quickly and accurately verify addresses in real-time, at the point of entry. Melissa is a single-source vendor for address management, data hygiene and presorting solutions, empowering businesses all over the world to effectively manage their data quality.