Slide 23 of 29
Notes:
Another new aspect of geography for Census 2000 is the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA). This is a new statistical area that the Census Bureau has created to address the problems associated with tabulating data by ZIP Codes. They are generalized representations of USPS ZIP Code areas. Since ZIP Codes are tools for delivering mail and were never intended to provide the basis for statistical tabulations, they are often not appropriate for that use. ZIP Codes are usually just collections of streets representing a carrier route. What complicates matters is that they can be assigned to just one building, or even to a single company within a building and they are solely designed to get the mail delivered.
Zip Code Tabulation Areas can represent either five or three-digit Postal Service ZIP Codes. There are no ZCTAs for the nine-digit ZIP Codes.
