FIPS Codes

What are FIPS Codes and how are they used?

Federal Information Processing Standards codes (also known as FIPS Codes) are used by the US government to standardize the identification of different entities, such as states and counties. These codes are issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The FIPS State Code is a two digit code used to identify the different states in the United States. The code is also used for some territories or commonwealths, such as Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia. Some two digit codes are used for the Emergency Alert System to identify regions or bodies or water.

Each county in the United States also is assigned a FIPS code. The county FIPS code will start with the first two numbers in the state FIPS code, followed by three numbers unique to each county in the state. This combination creates a unique code for each county in the United States.

Since the Census Bureau uses the Federal Information Processing Standard codes, they can be useful for businesses that are mining for demographics data. They are also useful for businesses that work with the government. ZIP Code Download provides a ZIP Code Database including state and county FIPS codes for a very reasonable price. For more information visit the 5-digit ZIP Code Database, Commercial Edition product page.