# Need a zip/postal code database or plugin for rails **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [February 2, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-a-zip-postal-code-database-or-plugin-for-rails/127885 "2008-02-02T05:27:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-a-zip-postal-code-database-or-plugin-for-rails/127885/1 "2008-02-02T05:27:02Z")
Anyone here has an idea of any good database or RoR plugin for zip and postal codes ??? Thank you… ---
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-a-zip-postal-code-database-or-plugin-for-rails/127885/2 "2008-02-02T05:51:37Z")
I’m not sure of a plugin for it, but for US addresses you could try the web services provided by the USPS: [http://www.usps.com/webtools/technical.htm](http://www.usps.com/webtools/technical.htm) ---
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-a-zip-postal-code-database-or-plugin-for-rails/127885/3 "2008-02-02T06:22:31Z")
What do you need to do with it? I asked this exact same question a while ago because I needed a way to search for an item based on its distance from a certain zipcode. I ended up stumbling onto GeoKit which is an amazing rails plugin for geocoding locations and performing a variety of related tasks. ---
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-a-zip-postal-code-database-or-plugin-for-rails/127885/4 "2008-02-02T18:27:22Z")
I have a CSV file for all zip codes in the US: Code,Latitude,Longitude,City,State,County,Type Load all the zips in a table and use GeoKit so that I can find distance qualifications by address (zip\_code) without the expense of hitting a geocoder. Much faster and 100% available. It’s also useful for classifying people by county (which geocoders can not do), and for presenting a list of cities, or auto-completing the city/state when someone enters a zip. Just keep in mind that the lon/lat is for the CENTER of the zip\_code area and may or may not fit your accuracy needs. It may not be 100% correct, but it does have my home zip\_code which became active only last year, so it looks pretty good to me. Just drop me an email if you would like a copy. Also let me know if you would like a model and import script for importing the file. ---
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-a-zip-postal-code-database-or-plugin-for-rails/127885/5 "2008-02-03T03:01:23Z")
On Feb 2, 1:55 pm, “removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > To be honest, what I was more in need for is a db or a plugin for > country/state drop down… > But since I don’t know how my app is going to evolve, I tought it’d be > better to get > the full thing now (zip codes etc…). I’ve heard about GeoKit and > I’ve seen the API, > its nice but isn’t that a bit too much, since I don’t plan to be > making a map app??? > What could you suggest me ??? thx for your time. Well, you can use the us\_states plugin to create a us\_state\_options\_for\_select (selection list). [http://svn.techno-weenie.net/projects/plugins/us\_states/](http://svn.techno-weenie.net/projects/plugins/us_states/) And rails provides country\_select to select from a list of countries. ---
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-a-zip-postal-code-database-or-plugin-for-rails/127885/6 "2008-02-02T21:57:10Z")
To be honest, what I was more in need for is a db or a plugin for country/state drop down… But since I don’t know how my app is going to evolve, I tought it’d be better to get the full thing now (zip codes etc…). I’ve heard about GeoKit and I’ve seen the API, its nice but isn’t that a bit too much, since I don’t plan to be making a map app??? What could you suggest me ??? thx for your time. On Feb 2, 12:22 am, Nathan E. \