How to work with U.S. city, county & ZIP data.
Practical, step-by-step walkthroughs — geocoding, mapping ZIPs, and joining place data on FIPS. Each guide pairs with a free tool and real column names you can copy.
ZIP codes & place lookup
Try the ZIP Lookup →Add county and FIPS codes to a list of ZIP codes
One XLOOKUP keyed on the 5-digit ZIP pulls primary_county and county_fips into your sheet — plus the two gotchas that break it.
ZIP, city, county & FIPS — quick answers
Short, sourced answers with the exact column names: ZIP → city/county/FIPS, coordinates, duplicate names, and one-file coverage.
Read the FAQ →7 Q&AsGeocoding & coordinates
Try the City Geocoder →Geocode a list of US cities in Python — no paid API
Attach lat/lng with a pandas merge — join on city + state or the exact fips_place_code, no API and no rate limits.
How do I add latitude & longitude to cities?
The short version: match to a reference List and copy the coordinate columns across — in a spreadsheet or in pandas.
Read the answer →1 minEvery guide starts from the same data. Get the free basic city list to follow along — city, state, and FIPS for every U.S. city.
Download the free list