ZIP Code Guides
The Most Populous ZIP Codes in America
ZIP code populations vary from a few hundred to over 100,000. Here are the largest, what they have in common, and what the Census data shows.
By City Zip Compare Editorial · March 18, 2026 · 8 min read
The U.S. has roughly 33,000 active residential ZIP codes (ZCTAs in Census terms). The smallest contain a few hundred people; the largest contain over 110,000. The largest cluster heavily in the Sun Belt — South Texas, Houston suburbs, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and the Florida exurbs.
The top ten
ZIP 79936 in El Paso, TX has long topped this list with roughly 113,000 residents. Other consistent top-ten members include 11368 (Corona, Queens, NY), 60629 (Chicago Southwest Side), 90011 (South Los Angeles), 75217 (Dallas), 77449 (Katy, TX), 90650 (Norwalk, CA), and 78521 (Brownsville, TX).
The pattern: large suburban or exurban ZIPs in fast-growing metros, plus a handful of dense urban ZIPs in the largest legacy cities.
- 79936 (El Paso, TX): ~113,000
- 11368 (Corona, NY): ~110,000
- 60629 (Chicago, IL): ~104,000
- 90011 (Los Angeles, CA): ~103,000
- 77449 (Katy, TX): ~96,000
Search a ZIP to see population, income, and housing data together.
Look Up Any ZIP Code's PopulationWhat the largest ZIPs have in common
Three traits show up consistently. They tend to have a high foreign-born share (often 35%+). They tend to have larger-than-average household sizes (often 3.5+ vs national 2.5). And they tend to have lower-than-national median incomes — high-population ZIPs are heavily working-class.
The exception is the Texas exurbs (Katy, Frisco, McKinney) where population growth has been driven by middle-class family migration. Those ZIPs combine high population with above-average incomes — a pattern that didn't exist 20 years ago.
Why ZIP population size alone can be misleading
A large population number by itself doesn't tell you much about what a ZIP is actually like to live in — a dense urban ZIP with 100,000 residents in a few square miles has an entirely different character than an exurban ZIP with the same population spread across a sprawling suburban footprint. Before drawing conclusions from population size alone, check income and housing cost for the specific ZIP, since population size correlates with very different underlying profiles depending on which pattern — legacy dense urban versus fast-growing exurban — the ZIP falls into.
Frequently asked
›What is the most populous ZIP code in America?
ZIP 79936 in El Paso, Texas has consistently topped the list in recent ACS5 releases, with a population around 113,000.
›Why do the largest ZIP codes tend to have lower median incomes?
Many of the highest-population ZIPs are dense, working-class urban neighborhoods or large family-heavy exurbs where household size is high relative to income, which pulls the per-household income figure down even when total economic activity is substantial.
›Are large ZIP codes always urban?
No — several of the most populous ZIPs are large-footprint suburban or exurban areas, like Katy, Texas, where population size reflects sprawling geographic area and rapid family in-migration rather than urban density.
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Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Data: census.gov/programs-surveys/acs.