New 42-day free trialGet it now
Smarty

State & county FIPS Codes Lookup by address, city & ZIP Code

Find county FIPS Codes

County FIPS Codes example

FIPS Codes are the numbers used to identify geographic regions like countries, states, and counties. The use of FIPS Codes facilitate interoperability across government agencies, contractors, and technical communities.The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) manages Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) Codes.

County FIPS Codes are unique 5-digit codes that represent specific US counties. The first two digits represent the county's state, and the last three digits represent the county. For example, "49017" is the FIPS Code for Garfield County, Utah. "49" represents Utah, and "017" represents Garfield County.


Need to find the county name or FIPS Code for an address, city, state, or ZIP Code? We have free tools available for FIPS Code lookup via single address lookup, bulk upload, and programmatically via API. Try it out for free using our tool above, or watch the video to learn how.

Enter an address to see the county name and FIPSEnter city/state or ZIP Code to see any matching FIPS Codes and county namesFind county FIPS Codes for a large set of addresses using our APIsUpload addresses from Excel or CSV file and get the FIPS Codes for each

County FIPS Code lookups are usually more complicated than simply searching by city or ZIP Code. In this article, we will show you why you probably want to do FIPS Code lookups using street addresses if possible. We'll also show you how to look up FIPS county Codes using ZIP Codes or a City/State, too.

Table of contents:

County FIPS Code lookup by address

You can find FIPS Codes by starting with a ZIP Code, city, or address. Using an address is the most reliable way to get precise FIPS Codes. Because ZIP Codes and cities cover large areas, a ZIP Code or city lookup may yield several FIPS Codes. If you want more details, check out the next section: FIPS Code Lookup by ZIP Code & City.

Ready to learn how to look up a FIPS with an address? Great. Get your address handy.

To get a FIPS Code, simply enter the address where you need the FIPS county code in our nifty County FIPS Code lookup tool at the top of this page. You can do this in a single line (“SINGLE FIELD” option) or separate out the address parts (“MULTIPLE FIELDS” tab). As you type, you’ll also get to experience our sweet, sweet autocomplete tool in action.

If you manually typed in the entire address (wow, overachiever), click "View Results".

If you took advantage of the powers of our autocomplete tool (noice!), you can click the address suggested in the populated options. The county and FIPS county code for the address will be displayed immediately below the gadget you used. It’ll look like this:

County FIPS Code screenshot

Video tutorial for county FIPS Code lookup by address

FIPS code lookup by ZIP Code & city

Using a ZIP Code or city to find a FIPS Code is a lot like the last time I asked a girl for her phone number. When I texted 867-5309, it wasn't Jenny. A guy named Guillermo told me I got pranked.

Entering a city or ZIP to get a FIPS may lead to similar disappointment.

You see, ZIP Codes and cities often cross one or more county lines. A particular ZIP Code or city may yield up to 5 correct FIPS Codes. The same can be said for cities.

If you need a specific county FIPS Code, you might be better off using a magic 8-ball than searching by city or ZIP.

Still, there are some use cases where finding FIPS Codes for cities or ZIP Codes may still be beneficial. So let's dive in a bit deeper.

Limitations with FIPS Code lookup by city.

An example of these limitations is the city of Leeds, Alabama. Leeds sits at the intersection of three counties and is served by a single ZIP Code 35094.

Suppose that you are an insurance salesperson, and you have a customer that you know lives in Leeds. Unfortunately, you don't have their exact address. You need to know their county and FIPS Code in order to show her the health insurance plan you can offer. Even though you know her approximate location, you still don't know her county.

Your customer could reside in Saint Clair County (FIPS Code 01115), Jefferson County (FIPS Code 01073), or Shelby County (FIPS Code 01117). The only way to know for sure is to get the address.

And Leeds is not unique. (Well, actually Leeds is unique because the city is home to the World's Largest Motorcycle Museum!) Leeds just isn't unique in the fact that hundreds of cities are split by county lines.

In fact, there are cities in the US that are split by up to five counties. This happens in highly populated areas as well as suburban and rural areas.

Here are a few examples of cities split by counties:

  • New York, New York, with a population of 8.4 million, is unsurprisingly shared by 5 counties.
  • Aurora, Illinois, is a suburb of Chicago, with a population of 200,000 and is divided into three counties.
  • Allentown, Georgia, is split into four counties despite having a population of only 158.

37 states in the US have cities that are spread across multiple counties.

There are currently:

  • 2 cities split into five counties
  • 10 cities split into four counties
  • 61 cities split into three counties
  • 611 cities split into two counties

In total, there are at least 684 cities across 37 states that cross county lines. If you want to enter one city and expect to get only one FIPS Code returned, you're gonna have a bad time.

Limitations with County FIPS Code lookup by ZIP Code

Like cities and kids named 'Ferris Bueller,' ZIP Codes often cross lines. In the case of ZIP Codes, we're talking about county lines. This results in multiple valid FIPS Codes for a single ZIP. Fortunately, crossing these lines doesn't result in a totaled Ferrari.

People often imagine that ZIP Codes are regions or boxes with defined boundaries. In reality, ZIP Codes are lines. Specifically, ZIP Codes are a collection of postal delivery routes that tie to a post office. ZIP Codes may be based on sparse delivery routes, so the boundary between ZIP Code areas there can be indefinite. They may look like this:

ZIP Code Delivery Routes

Postal delivery routes are determined by optimal efficiency. County lines are rarely considered when determining where USPS mail trucks go. As a result, as many as 20% of postal codes cross one or more county lines.

If you enter 38583 into our address validation tool, you will find that the ZIP Code spans five counties. ZIP Codes don't only cross county lines. During the 2010 census, at least 103 ZIP Codes crossed STATE lines.

FIPS Code lookup by ZIP Code & city tutorial

Now you know the limitations of looking up FIPS Codes by ZIP Code and city. You may still need to know all the counties in a particular city or ZIP Code. Here's how:

  1. Scroll back up to our beautiful FIPS Code lookup tool at the top of the page.
  2. You will need to know your city’s state, but feel free to do this in the “MULTIPLE FIELDS” tab, or scooch that mouse over one more slot to the “CITY/STATE OR ZIP” tab.
  3. Enter the desired ZIP Code OR City and State combo. For this example, we’ll use Leeds, Alabama.
  4. State and county FIPS Codes lookup by address, city and ZIP example screenshot
  5. Click "View Results"
  6. County FIPS Codes result example screenshot
  7. Your results will appear. (Note that this example shows us more than one FIPS Code for the city of Leeds. If you need to get more specific, we suggest doing this using an address in Leeds instead of using the entire city of Leeds.)
  8. Feel free to dance around with joy now, or sit down and click on the “Find another FIPS Code button” to do it all over again.

Are FIPS Codes the same as ZIP Codes?

ZIP Codes and county FIPS Codes look pretty similar at first glance. They're both five characters long. They're both composed of numbers exclusively. But that's where the similarities end.

ZIP Codes are collections of mail delivery routes that the USPS uses to organize and expedite mail delivery.

County FIPS Codes on the other hand are a five-digit number used to designate a specific county. A county will always be assigned a single FIPS code but the county may contain dozens of ZIP Codes.

The FIPS Code for Orange County, California is 06059. That is the one and only FIPS Code the county has. Inside Orange County you will find well over 100 ZIP Codes such as 92861, 92862, 92863, 92864, 92865, etc.

In the US there are currently 3241 counties and 3241 FIPS Codes to match. FIPS Codes don't change often. The last time a new County FIPS Code was added to the list was in 2001. Conversely, 41,000+ ZIP Codes are updated regularly based on the needs of the USPS.

There are many reasons for wanting to determine the county of a particular address, including:

  • Proper assignment of voting districts.
  • Correct calculation of sales tax.
  • Demographic profiling using MSA (CBSA) analysis.
  • Regulatory compliance, such as medical or insurance-related compliance.

Complete state FIPS Codes list plus territories

Each state in the United States has been assigned a two-digit State FIPS Code. Numbers are assigned alphabetically in ascending order. You may notice in the US States FIPS Code that some numbers are skipped. This was done in the 80s to allow for the inclusion of new states into the US FIPS Code system while maintaining the alphabetic and numeric ordering.

For example, you will notice that no state is currently assigned the FIPS Code of "03." This is to leave room for American Samoa should it move from a US protectorate to a US State. There are similar spaces for Guam (14), Puerto Rico (43), and the Virgin Islands (52).

Here is a list of the FIPS Codes for all 50 states. US Protectorates, and Washington D.C.

State / Territory / Outlying AreaAlpha CodeUS State FIPS CodeStatusRegionDivision
AlabamaAL01State, Counties36
AlaskaAK02State, Boroughs49
ArizonaAZ04State, Counties48
ArkansasAR05State, Counties37
CaliforniaCA06State, Counties49
ColoradoCO08State, Counties48
ConnecticutCT09State, Counties11
DelawareDE10State, Counties35
District of ColumbiaDC11Federal district35
FloridaFL12State, Counties35
GeorgiaGA13State, Counties35
HawaiiHI15State, Counties49
IdahoID16State, Counties48
IllinoisIL17State, Counties23
IndianaIN18State, Counties23
IowaIA19State, Counties24
KansasKS20State, Counties24
KentuckyKY21State, Counties36
LouisianaLA22State, Parishes37
MaineME23State, Counties11
MarylandMD24State, Counties35
MassachusettsMA25State, Counties11
MichiganMI26State, Counties23
MinnesotaMN27State, Counties24
MississippiMS28State, Counties36
MissouriMO29State, Counties24
MontanaMT30State, Counties48
NebraskaNE31State, Counties24
NevadaNV32State, Counties48
New HampshireNH33State, Counties11
New JerseyNJ34State, Counties12
New MexicoNM35State, Counties48
New YorkNY36State, Counties12
North CarolinaNC37State, Counties35
North DakotaND38State, Counties24
OhioOH39State, Counties23
OklahomaOK40State, Counties37
OregonOR41State, Counties49
PennsylvaniaPA42State, Counties12
Rhode IslandRI44State, Counties11
South CarolinaSC45State, Counties35
South DakotaSD46State, Counties24
TennesseeTN47State, Counties36
TexasTX48State, Counties37
UtahUT49State, Counties48
VermontVT50State, Counties11
VirginiaVA51State, Counties35
WashingtonWA53State, Counties49
West VirginiaWV54State, Counties35
WisconsinWI55State, Counties23
WyomingWY56State, Counties48
American SamoaAS60Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
Federated States of MicronesiaFM64Freely Associated State
GuamGU66Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
Johnston AtollJA67Minor outlying island territory
Marshall IslandsMH68Freely Associated State
Northern Mariana IslandsMP69Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
PalauPW70Freely Associated State
Midway IslandsMI71Minor outlying island territory
Puerto RicoPR72Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
U.S. Minor Outlying IslandsUM74Minor outlying island territories (aggregated)
Navassa IslandNI76Minor outlying island territory
Virgin Islands of the U.S.VI78Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
Wake IslandWI79Minor outlying island territory
Baker IslandBI81Minor outlying island territory
Howland IslandHI84Minor outlying island territory
Jarvis IslandJI86Minor outlying island territory
Kingman ReefKR89Minor outlying island territory
Palmyra AtollPA95Minor outlying island territory

More information about State FIPS Codes is found at Census.gov

How to read a county FIPS Code

The first two digits in the five-digit county FIPS Code represent the state in which the county is located. For example, the FIPS Code for the state of Utah is "49" so every FIPS Code in the state of Utah will begin with "49". The next 3 digits of a 5-digit county FIPS Code represent the county. The code Garfield County, Utah is "017". So, the full five-digit county FIPS code is "49017."

FIPS codes are assigned in alphabetic order to counties counting by odd numbers. The first county in a state alphabetically is always 001, the second county is always 003, the third is 005 and so on.

This method leaves a space between each county for the insertion of renamed or newly created counties while preserving the alphabetic ordering.

Conclusion

FIPS Codes and county information can be a useful addition to your address data. Smarty can give you all the FIPS Codes you can handle. Start getting FIPS Codes using our Single address verification tool, API, or Bulk address upload. Whatever the FIPS you need, we have you covered.

Ready to get started?