What kind of area does a 5 digit area code cover? eg OR 97405?

Question

What kind of area does a 5 digit area code cover? eg OR 97405?

Answer 1

The area covered by a particular Zip code varies tremendously.  They are primarily designed on demographic data.  Basically, the denser the population and the greater the number of businesses, the smaller the Zip code area has to be.  It's impossible to keep the amount of mail identical, of course, and as neighborhoods change, it can get pretty much out of whack, but the general idea was to even out the work load for the postal service as much as possible.  

Since Zip codes were first introduced years ago, there have been additional changes.  For example, government agencies and some large businesses have their own Zip code.  That means that a Zip code could wind up referring to just a single building.

See the Web site below for a Zip code area locator.  You can plug in a Zip code, and it shows the area covered by it.

http://maps.huge.info/zip.htm

I hope this helps.