The ZIP Code that Got Away

There are just over 40,000 ZIP codes in the United States – and roughly 30,000 of them play host to people: households or businesses. (The remaining 10,000 are used for PO boxes and other specialty purposes).

As experts in figuring out where our clients’ best prospects live, we at MindEcology can tell you everything you might ever want to know about the psycho-demographic makeup, size and location of each of those 30,000 ZIP codes. Except for one, that is. That would be ZIP 48222.

You see, ol’ 48222 belongs to a boat, not a plot of land. The J.W. Wescott II (pictured above) is an official mail boat serving the vessels traversing the Great Lakes of the US. This “floating ZIP code” is in charge of delivering mail that is addressed to vessels passing under the Ambassador Bridge, which spans the Detroit River near Lake Erie. It is the only floating post office in the world.

MindEcology salutes the one ZIP code we couldn’t model – the one that got away.