TIGER/Line Shapefile, 2014, Series Information for the 2010 Census 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA5) National Shapefile

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are approximate area representations of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) ZIP Code service areas that the
Census Bureau creates to present statistical data for each decennial census. The Census Bureau delineates ZCTA boundaries for the United States, Puerto
Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands once each decade following the decennial
census. Data users should not use ZCTAs to identify the official USPS ZIP Code for mail delivery. The USPS makes periodic changes to ZIP Codes to support
more efficient mail delivery. The Census Bureau uses tabulation blocks as the basis for defining each ZCTA. Tabulation blocks are assigned to a ZCTA
based on the most frequently occurring ZIP Code for the addresses contained within that block. The most frequently occurring ZIP Code also becomes the
five-digit numeric code of the ZCTA. These codes may contain leading zeros. Blocks that do not contain addresses but are surrounded by a single ZCTA
(enclaves) are assigned to the surrounding ZCTA. Because the Census Bureau only uses the most frequently occurring ZIP Code to assign blocks, a ZCTA may
not exist for every USPS ZIP Code. Some ZIP Codes may not have a matching ZCTA because too few addresses were associated with the specific ZIP Code or
the ZIP Code was not the most frequently occurring ZIP Code within any of the blocks where it exists. The ZCTA boundaries in this release are those
delineated following the 2010 Census.