The largest ZIP codes in America by population
See more of our coverage in your search results.
More people live in ZIP code 77494 than in Charleston, South Carolina. About 140,000 residents share those five digits, in the Katy area west of Houston, making it the most populous ZIP code in the United States.
ZIP codes were built to move mail, not to describe communities, so their populations vary wildly. Some cover a single office building. The largest hold more people than most American cities.
| Rank | ZIP | Area | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77494 | Katy, TX | 140,157 |
| 2 | 08701 | Lakewood, NJ | 139,149 |
| 3 | 77449 | Katy, TX | 130,028 |
| 4 | 78660 | Pflugerville, TX | 124,834 |
| 5 | 77433 | Cypress, TX | 116,550 |
| 6 | 77084 | Houston, TX | 110,217 |
| 7 | 60629 | Chicago, IL | 108,324 |
| 8 | 11368 | Corona, Queens, NY | 105,716 |
| 9 | 92336 | Fontana, CA | 105,517 |
| 10 | 11208 | Brooklyn, NY | 105,428 |
Texas owns this list
Five of the top six are in metropolitan Houston or Austin. That's what explosive suburban growth looks like when the Postal Service doesn't redraw boundaries to keep up.
A ZIP code gets its lines drawn once, based on delivery efficiency at the time. When 30,000 acres of Texas prairie fills in with subdivisions over two decades, the ZIP code stays the same size and the population inside it multiplies. Katy's 77494 covers master-planned communities that didn't exist in 2000.
These are also affluent places. The median household income in 77494 is $148,720, roughly double the national figure, which is typical of the newer Houston exurbs.
The most unusual ZIP code in America
In second place is the interesting one. Lakewood, New Jersey's 08701 has 139,149 people and a median age of 18.2 years.
That is not a college town artifact. Lakewood is home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities in the United States, built around a major yeshiva, and the demographics are unlike anywhere else in the country. The average household there holds 4.4 people, against a national average around 2.5, and half the population is younger than 19.
For comparison, the median age in Katy's 77494 is 38.6 and its households average 3.3 people. Two ZIP codes of nearly identical size, describing completely different kinds of places. Lakewood also turns up near the top of our county fertility rankings for the same reason.
Density versus sprawl
The list splits into two kinds of large ZIP codes. The Texas and California entries are geographically big and suburban, holding 100,000-plus people across many square miles of subdivisions. The New York and Chicago entries get there the opposite way, packing similar numbers into a fraction of the land.
Corona in Queens (11368) and Chicago's 60629 are both dense, heavily immigrant neighborhoods where the population arrives through apartment buildings rather than cul-de-sacs. Corona's households average 3.5 people, close to Katy's, but in far less space.
One caveat on all of this: the Census Bureau doesn't measure postal ZIP codes directly. It builds approximations called ZIP Code Tabulation Areas by grouping census blocks, so these figures describe an area that closely matches the ZIP rather than the delivery route itself. The full list of every ZIP is in our largest ZIP codes ranking.
Sources
Population, income, age, and household size are from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates for ZIP Code Tabulation Areas. ZCTAs approximate United States Postal Service ZIP codes and are built from census blocks, so boundaries do not match postal delivery routes exactly.
Add CensusEasy as a preferred source on Google to see our stories first.
Which race is decreasing in the United States?
The non-Hispanic white population is the only major group that has shrunk since 2010, down 4.6 million to 192.2 million. It fell in 34 states and 74% of counties. Here is where, and why.
US trade deficit widens to $88.6 billion in July as computer imports hit a record
The July trade deficit is the largest since the March 2025 tariff rush. Capital goods imports set a record at $140.3 billion, computer imports have doubled this year, and Vietnam and Taiwan have both passed China as the largest bilateral deficits.
The US cities where the most adults hold a graduate degree
About 14% of American adults hold a graduate or professional degree. In Bethesda, Maryland it is 58.1%, with Brookline, Palo Alto, Newton, and Cambridge close behind. Every city on the list has a single institutional explanation.
What is the most populous ZIP code in the United States?
ZIP code 77494, covering part of the Katy area west of Houston, is the most populous in the country with about 140,157 residents. It is followed closely by 08701 in Lakewood, New Jersey at 139,149 and 77449, also in Katy, at 130,028.
Why are so many of the largest ZIP codes in Texas?
ZIP code boundaries are drawn for mail delivery and rarely redrawn as areas grow. When large tracts of suburban Houston and Austin filled in with master-planned subdivisions over two decades, the ZIP codes stayed the same size while the population inside multiplied. Five of the six largest ZIP codes are in metro Houston or Austin.
Why does Lakewood, New Jersey have such a young population?
ZIP code 08701 has a median age of 18.2 years, meaning half its residents are younger than 19. Lakewood is home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities in the United States, with an average household size of 4.4 people compared with about 2.5 nationally, producing a far younger age structure than anywhere comparable.
