Zip Code Lookup

Overview

A US zip code lookup API: get the city and state from a zip code, or list every ZIP code in a city. Zip Codes Lookup works by querying a database of US zip codes and returns the matches as JSON with each ZIP's primary county, with county FIPS codes, time zone, latitude, longitude and ZIP-to-ZIP distance on paid plans.

Live Test Zip Code Lookup Source →

Formula

One function covers the whole catalog: the first argument names the source, the next are its inputs, and the field after them says which single value lands in the cell. Formulas covers the grammar that applies to all of them.

=VERVE("zipcodes", A2, "zipcode")

A2 holds the zip you are looking up. Drag the formula down and each row resolves on its own.

With literal values

Nothing has to come from a cell — typed values work the same way.

=VERVE("zipcodes", 64082, "zipcode")

Inputs

Required inputs are positional, in the order below, followed by the field. Everything else is passed as a "name", value pair after that — the same shape as SUMIFS. Premium inputs are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.

Input	Type	Where it goes	Description
`zip`Required	string	argument 2 (A2)	The zip code for which you want to get the data length 5–5
`distanceTo`OptionalPremium	string	"distanceTo", value	A second US ZIP code; adds a distance object with the straight-line distance between the two ZIP centroids length 5–5

Passing an option

=VERVE("zipcodes", A2, "zipcode", "distanceTo", 64106)

What lands in your sheet

The field — the argument after the inputs — is what makes the formula resolve to one cell. Its value is a dot-path from the table below, so swapping it is how you pull a different value — one formula per column.

Seeing everything at once

Leave the field out and the formula returns the whole response instead: two columns, field name on the left and value on the right, spilling from the cell you typed in.

=VERVE("zipcodes", A2)

Good for exploring, not for filling down

The second row's table would land on top of the first's, and every cell after the first reads #REF! (#SPILL! in Excel). Keep one per sheet, or name a field, and leave the cells below and to the right empty.

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Each one is exactly what the field argument accepts, so swapping it is how you pull a different value into a cell. On a plan without a Premium field the cell reads #PREMIUM(field) rather than a value, so a locked field never looks like a real answer.

Use as the field	Type	Example cell value	Description
`zipcode`	string	`64082`	The ZIP code for the requested location
`state_abbr`	string	`MO`	Two-letter state abbreviation code
`latitude`Premium	string	`38.850243`	Geographic latitude coordinate of the location
`longitude`Premium	string	`-94.39570`	Geographic longitude coordinate of the location
`city`	string	`Lees Summit`	City name associated with the ZIP code
`state`	string	`Missouri`	Full state name corresponding to the abbreviation
`timezone`Premium	string	`America/Chicago`	IANA time zone of the ZIP code's location (e.g., America/Chicago)
`county`	string	`Jackson County`	Primary county of the ZIP code: the county holding the largest share of its land (e.g., Travis County) From the Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) to county relationship file. Null for PO-box and single-building ZIP codes, which have no ZCTA.
`countyFips`Premium	string	`29095`	Five-digit FIPS code of the primary county (state + county, e.g., 48453)
`stateFips`Premium	string	`29`	Two-digit FIPS code of the ZIP code's state (e.g., 48)
`counties`Premium	array[2]		Every county the ZIP code reaches, largest land share first About a third of ZIP codes cross a county line. landShare is the fraction of the ZIP's land area inside that county, so the shares of one ZIP sum to about 1.
`counties.0.name`Premium	string	`Jackson County`	County name
`counties.0.fips`Premium	string	`29095`	Five-digit county FIPS code
`counties.0.landShare`Premium	number	`0.9077`	Fraction (0-1) of the ZIP code's land area inside this county
`distance`Premium	object	`{…}`	Distance to the ZIP given in distanceTo (only when distanceTo is set)
`distance.zipcode`Premium	string	`64106`	The ZIP code given in distanceTo
`distance.city`Premium	string	`Kansas City`	City name of the distanceTo ZIP code
`distance.state_abbr`Premium	string	`MO`	Two-letter state abbreviation of the distanceTo ZIP code
`distance.miles`Premium	number	`19.94`	Straight-line distance between the two ZIP centroids in miles
`distance.kilometers`Premium	number	`32.09`	Straight-line distance between the two ZIP centroids in kilometers

Filling a whole column

Both platforms make one batched call for a column rather than one request per cell, and both cost the same — 2 credits per row looked up. How you write it differs, because the two runtimes batch at different points.

Rows 2–100 in one call

=VERVE("zipcodes", A2:A100, "zipcode")

In Google Sheets, give the arguments ranges and the answers spill down from the cell you typed in. Custom functions there run synchronously and in isolation, so dragged cells cannot be coalesced — the range form is how a column becomes one call. The field is required here: a per-row two-column table has nowhere to spill. Use a full column per input (A2:A100, not A2) — a single-cell reference is read as row 1 only and the rest of the column comes back blank.

In Excel, type the formula once and fill down — no range form and none needed, because its runtime is asynchronous and the add-in coalesces the calls a fill produces into a single batched request. Do not hand VERVE.CALL a range: Excel flattens it into positional arguments, so A2:A100 arrives as a hundred separate arguments and the cell reads #ERR rather than filling.

Either way, column A holds your zip values and the answers land beside them, one row each, blank rows skipped.

When a cell doesn't fill

A failed lookup returns readable text starting with #ERR rather than a spreadsheet error, because Excel cannot show a custom message on a real error — you would get a bare #VALUE! with no reason. The trade-off is that IFERROR() will not catch it; test with LEFT(cell, 4) = "#ERR" instead. Error handling covers the rest.

Cell reads	What happened
`#ERR Not connected`	No API key saved. Open the side panel and connect your account.
`#ERR Replace <name> with a cell or value`	A preview formula was copied as-is. Swap the placeholder for a cell reference.
`#ERR No "x" in zipcodes`	An option name this source does not take. The message lists the ones it does.
`#ERR No data point "…"`	The field path is not in the response. Check it against the table above.
`#PREMIUM(field)`	The field exists but your plan does not include it.
`#ERR Out of credits`	The cycle's credits are spent. Usage resets on your billing date.

Before the formula works

The add-in reads the API key you saved once in the side panel — the key never goes in the formula, so a shared sheet does not leak it and a collaborator without access simply sees the last calculated values.

Install the add-in for Google Sheets or Excel.
Open the side panel and sign in, or paste a key from your dashboard.
Type the formula above into any cell.

Use cases

Checkout Address Autofill: Fill in city and state names automatically when an online shopper types their five-digit postal code during checkout.
Delivery Zone Assignment: Dispatch software queries a target city and state to collect every valid postal code before assigning regional courier routes.
Territory Sales Mapping: When sorting sales leads, CRM systems look up postal codes to group prospects under the correct state and municipal account reps.
Shipping Address Verification: To prevent delivery exceptions, order management systems check customer-entered postal codes against returned state codes before processing fulfillment.

Other ways to use Zip Code Lookup

Set up Zip Code Lookup on VerveSheets, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveSheets account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.

Call it as a REST APIOne HTTPS endpoint and an x-api-key header, with SDKs for Node, Python and .NET.APIVerve →Reference →

Give it to an AI agentConnect over MCP and your agent calls it as a native tool — Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT.VerveKit →Reference →

Ground an agent on itA cited, machine-checkable fact your model can't produce on its own.VerveContext →Reference →