Editing ZIP Code (section)

===Types===

There are four types of ZIP Codes:

* Unique: assigned to a single high-volume address
* Post office box-only: used only for PO boxes at a given facility, not for any other type of delivery
* Military: used to route mail for the U.S. military
* Standard: all other ZIP Codes.

Unique ZIP Codes are used for governmental agencies, universities, businesses, or buildings receiving sufficiently high volumes of mail to justify the assignment to them of exclusive ZIP Codes. Government examples include 20505 for the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] in Washington, D.C., and 81009 for the [[Federal Citizen Information Center]] of the [[U.S. General Services Administration]] (GSA)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/aboutus.htm |title=FCIC&nbsp;– About Us |publisher=Federal Citizen Information Center of the U.S. General Services Administration |access-date=July 10, 2009 |quote=For years, consumers have written to Pueblo, Colorado 81009 for timely, practical information they trust. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090714061028/http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/aboutus.htm |archive-date=July 14, 2009 }}</ref> in [[Pueblo, Colorado]]. An example of a university-specific ZIP Code is 21252, which serves [[Towson University]]. An example of a private address with a unique ZIP Code is that assigned to the headquarters of [[Walmart]] (72716). They may also be assigned to a single individual, such as [[Smokey Bear]] "20252", or a program, such as the Postal Service's [[Operation Santa Claus]] program, under which children are invited to write to Santa Claus at "North Pole 88888".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Susan |title='Don't forget about me': USPS' Operation Santa looking for donors to make magic this year |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/11/14/usps-operation-santa-adopt-letters/8307694001/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US |archive-date=November 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124204758/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/11/14/usps-operation-santa-adopt-letters/8307694001/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

An example of a PO box-only ZIP Code is 22313, used for boxes at the main post office in [[Alexandria, Virginia]], including those used by the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]]. In the area surrounding that post office, home and business mail delivery addresses use ZIP Code 22314, a standard ZIP Code.