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USPS® address verification | Free tools and best options

USPS address verification webpage

USPS Address Verification is the process of standardizing and correcting US mailing addresses to match the USPS standards and validating their presence in the official USPS address database.

Verification confirms address accuracy, reduces mailing costs, and aids timely delivery.

USPS has an excellent tool to verify US postal addresses. It's called "ZIP Code™ by Address," and we'll show you how to use it. Notably, the USPS address verification tool can't do everything, so we'll cover its limitations here too.

If you find the USPS address validation tool doesn't quite hit the spot, don't worry. Smarty™ has capable tools that provide additional flexibility.

Try out any of our address verification tools here, or continue reading to learn how address verification by USPS works.

USPS Address Verification Bulk USPS Address Validation USPS Address Verification API

In this article; we'll cover:

How to validate an address with the USPS address lookup tool

A common way to validate an address is using the USPS Address Verification tool. The free tool is available on USPS.com, can standardize and verify address accuracy, and allows one address entry at a time. Here we'll provide step-by-step instructions.

If you're more of a visual learner, check out the video below.

  1. Visit the USPS ZIP Code by Address lookup tool at: https://tools.usps.com/zip-code-lookup.htm?byaddress
  2. Enter the street address, city, state, and ZIP Code in the designated fields. Not all fields are required, but complete address information increases the chances of successful validation by USPS.
  3. Click “Find”
  4. Examine the results to ensure the address is accurate and conforms to USPS formatting rules. If the address isn't recognized, the tool can offer suggestions for rectifying it.
  5. To access additional information about the address, click on the "⌄" icon next to the address. Clicking will expand the result to display the Delivery Point Validation (DPV) information, indicating whether the address is a valid delivery point as per USPS standards. To learn more about DPV, read the Understanding the USPS Output section below. Possible Delivery Point Validation Indicator options are:
    DPV confirmation indicator Mailable? Meaning
    Y ✅ The address is valid and shippable.
    D ✅ The primary number (building, house) confirmed, but the secondary number (suite, apartment, unit, etc.) is missing from the user entry.
    S ❌ The primary number (building, house) is confirmed, but the secondary number (suite, apartment, unit, etc.) is present but failed DPV Confirmation.
    N ❌ The primary number (building, house) and the secondary number (suite, apartment, unit, etc.) failed DPV confirmation.
    - ❌ An address match wasn't found, so it didn't submit for DPV confirmation.

    The DPV Confirmation Indicator of “Y” is the response you most want since it means it is the most precise address for a delivery location offered by the USPS.

    A DPV Confirmation Indicator of “D” is almost as good since it indicates an address is valid and shippable but also indicates there may be a valid secondary address number (suites, apartments, units, etc.) missing from your entry.

    The “D” indicator flags the address may require manual review to confirm the address doesn't need an apartment, suite, or unit number. That little “D” indicator has prevented many a lost package.

    Mailing to an address with DPV Confirmation Indicator “D” usually means your mail gets to the lobby of a building rather than a particular apartment or suite.

  6. Update your address record to match the data provided by the USPS tool.
  7. Repeat as needed.

Note: The USPS address verification process doesn't confirm a person or company works or lives at a specific address. Instead, the verification process ensures an address exists and can receive mail.

Verifying an address with USPS (video 3:27)

Here's a video we made that shows the entire process on the USPS site.

Why is USPS address validation necessary?

USPS Address Validation tells you the US postal addresses you're sending to are real and mailable. Many factors stand in the way of knowing if addresses are reliable for your purposes. Human entry errors, ZIP Code changes, new construction, changing local laws, and annexation all play a role. Without address validation, data quality continuously degrades, and address problems continue to get worse.

Here are some key facts about address data that underscore the importance of address verification.

  • The USPS creates 10-20 new ZIP Codes each year, and it takes up to 5 years for people to fully utilize new ZIP Codes.
  • Individual ZIP+4 Codes may change up to once a month since plus 4s tie to how many employees a post office has, changing coverage areas, new construction, etc.
  • The USPS estimates 4.36% of all mail was undeliverable as addressed (UAA) in 2022.
  • Estimates say between 4.7% and 8.4% of online order form entries contain mistakes.

Address verification is an essential step if you want mail to make it to the correct destination on the first try without losing packages or getting returned mail.

The most obvious answer to this challenge is to use the USPS Address Verification web tool to clean up your mailing address list. USPS address verification is free, but you might find other solutions to fit your needs better. Often, free options are the most costly.

First, let's talk about how to use the address verification tool from the USPS. We'll also cover the key pros and cons of the service. This article covers the USPS Address Verification Web Tools, but we also cover the USPS Address Verification APIs in depth here.

As noted in step 5 above, if you click the "⌄" icon, you can expand the results and get up to 14 additional metadata points.

Looking at this output provided by the USPS Address Validation Tool, you might be wondering what things like "LAC," "eLOT (Enhanced Line of Travel)," and "DPV Confirmation Indicator" really are and their usage. While some metadata points aren't relevant or essential for most users, we'll briefly explain a few useful ones.

Delivery Point Validation

Delivery Point Validation™ (DPV®) is a form of address validation designed by the USPS to ensure that an address can receive mail.

A delivery point can be a PO box, a box on an aircraft carrier, or a mailbox at the curb. It can also be a mail slot in the front door or a cluster mailbox in a subdivision—whatever the intended final destination is for a letter or package. Delivery points are not street addresses. A single street address may have multiple delivery points, such as individual units in apartment buildings or offices.

To identify delivery points individually, the USPS gives each one a unique 11-digit number, composed of the delivery point's nine-digit ZIP+4 Code plus 2 extra digits to narrow the designation to the delivery point itself. The 11-digit number is named Delivery Point Code (DPC).

An address with a valid ZIP+4 Code but without a valid DPC may identify an unused or non-existent building or a vacant lot. Knowing how a valid delivery point differs from a valid address makes USPS output easier to understand.

LACS and LACSLink®

Another metadata point you'll see is LAC™.

Occasionally, addresses get renamed or renumbered. Many rural addresses have been updated with modern, easy-to-find city-street addresses to aid 911 emergency response teams. Or sometimes, a city might rename a street to edit an insensitive street name or honor influential local citizens.

For example, In 2010, Minneapolis renamed a portion of 3rd Avenue North near Target Field to “Twins Way.”

To keep track of these changes, the USPS has a system called LACS to track these changes.

LACS (Locatable Address Conversion System) is a secure dataset of rural-style addresses converted to city-style addresses, primarily arising from implementing the e911 system. It also contains existing renamed or renumbered city-style addresses.

LACSLink® exists as the link between USPS address tools to check addresses against the LACS dataset.

Your metadata results will tell you if the address was checked against LACSLink®.

For example, enter: 

2737 N MOUNT PLEASANT RD
GREENBRIER TN

The USPS ZIP Code Lookup will return: 

5257 N MOUNT PLEASANT RD
GREENBRIER TN 37073-5833

We know what you're thinking. Either we put a typo in this article, or the USPS is returning a different address from what you entered!

But when you expand your results, you'll see an "L" under the LAC. The “L” indicates the address returned, "5257 N" is the matching, updated version of the address entered of "2737 N" found in the LAC database. This indicates "5257 N" is the most correct version of the address.

Since these are primarily for rural addresses updated to match a more conventional city address format, you may not frequently run across this type of address if you only validate a handful of addresses.

If you're cleansing several thousand addresses in your database or preparing a mass mailing, you will see it come up far more frequently.

Pros of using the USPS postal address verification tool

If you only need to use an address checker to verify USPS addresses occasionally, the USPS ZIP Code Lookup tool works to validate US postal addresses one at a time. It's easy enough to use, free, and requires no setup.

The tool also returns addresses in USPS standardized format. While this may look a bit different from what you originally entered, using the USPS standardized street address format ensures your mailpieces are processed smoothly with no delays.

With a bit more work, developers can integrate USPS Web Tools® APIs into a website or shipping application for free.

6 Cons of using the USPS postal address verification tool

It's pretty neat that the USPS offers all these address validation options for free. But - you guessed it - there's a catch (or 6) we'll cover here:

  1. Slow experience for the user

    If you want to grab an entire address, paste it into the USPS Address Verification Tool, hit enter, and see if your address is valid, you'll be disappointed.

    USPS requires you to enter each part of the address into a different field. After hitting the “Find” button, you go to a new page with the results and click the "⌄" icon to see the full output. Then, you have to click another button if you need to make changes to the entered address or enter a new address.

    The process isn't so bad if you're doing a few postal addresses, but it becomes painful around the 7th and excruciating around the 14th. User experience here isn't fast.

    Smarty offers USPS address verification via single field entry. The response shows on the same page–which makes updating or entering the following address a breeze.

    Even if you use the USPS API for address verification, you're limited to 5 addresses per second which is slow compared to other services that can process up to 70,000+ addresses per second.

  2. No address autocomplete

    Maintaining a clean address database starts at the beginning—when you first enter an address. Autocomplete prevents malformed data from making its way into your database by recommending only valid addresses while the user types.

    Unfortunately, the address verification tools offered by the USPS does'nt include an autocomplete feature which means:

    1. The address will take longer to enter
    2. The address will be more likely to contain typos
    3. The address is more likely to be missing components
    4. An extra step will be required to confirm the address

    Suppose you're providing an online form for customers to enter address data. In that case, you'll need to integrate Smarty's US Address Autocomplete into your forms to avoid user error while typing and reduce friction for your customer.

    Learn more about what to look for in an address autocomplete service.

  3. Missing 20 million+ US addresses

    The United States Postal Service database contains 160 million mailing addresses in the United States.

    But did you know there are over 20 million NON-postal addresses out there? Only private carriers like FedEx, UPS, and DHL service these valid addresses. You could miss millions of valid customer addresses if you only go by the USPS database. To validate non-postal addresses, you'll need to look beyond the APIs offered by the USPS.

  4. No international data

    As the name implies, the USPS is the United States Postal Service. While you can use the USPS to ship a package to an international location, the USPS doesn't offer any services to verify, validate, standardize, or parse international addresses.

    If you need international address verification for any other country, you'll need another solution.

  5. Lacking useful metadata

    Remember when we talked about DPV, LACSLink, and the other metadata you can get from the USPS Address Validator?

    Not to be confused with the metaverse, metadata is data about data. It's like the key to a map– explaining all the lines, dots, and other symbols. Metadata helps you sort and catalog information. The more metadata you have, the more you know about your original data or object, and the faster you can draw conclusions or analyze data.

    The USPS Web Tools can return the following data points:

    Firm name State Carrier route DPV footnotes
    Address1 5-digit ZIP Code Footnotes RDI
    Address2 ZIP+4 Code DPV match code Central Delivery Point
    City Delivery Point CMRA Vacancy status

    Smarty US Address Verification returns all the USPS data points above plus the following:

    Default City Name Building Default Indicator Daylight Savings Time Flag SuiteLink
    ZIP Code Type Latitude and Longitude No Stat Flag
    EWS Match Time Zone LACSLink code
    Congressional District Time Zone Offset LACSLink Indicator

    With every validated address, Smarty can provide up to 55 points of metadata to enrich your data. That's a lot more information to provide better, faster services.

  6. Strict terms of service (TOS)

    Yes, those things no one ever reads but checks the box saying they've read. In this case, any business planning to depend on USPS services should at least see this statement from the USPS web tools user guide:

    The Address Validation APIs can be used in conjunction with USPS SHIPPING OR MAILING SERVICES ONLY.

    The Address API must only be used on an individual transactional basis, i.e., not batch processing or cleansing of a database, but as a customer enters the information into a form on a website.

    Failure to comply with these terms and conditions can result in termination of USPS API access without prior notice.”

    Here are a few everyday use cases not permitted by the above USPS statement:

    • Want to clean your database of 1 billion, 1 million, or 100 addresses with USPS? Sorry, USPS gives a resounding “No.”
    • Want to run a quick batch of 20 addresses? Nope, that is also against the USPS TOS.
    • Want to ensure the address is valid before you ship a package with UPS since you recently discovered that the UPS validator doesn't verify building numbers or unit numbers? Unfortunately, the USPS TOS blocks you again.

    The TOS declares that USPS web services must be used exclusively for USPS shipping or mailing services.

    The Terms also state that there isn't a Service Level Agreement (SLA). A service level agreement is a commitment between a service provider like USPS and a client that guarantees a minimum level of service.

    Without an SLA, USPS is quite literally offering no promises.

You can programmatically access the USPS Address validation tools through a suite of APIs. We discuss the pros and cons of the USPS Address Verification APIs here.

Comparison table

USPS offers a good set of free-to-use tools and resources. Depending on your needs, address verification offered by USPS may be what you need.

We discussed all the abilities and limitations of USPS address verification and how Smarty compares. Here is a quick reference guide:

USPS Smarty
Verifies full USPS addresses ✅ ✅
Standardizes addresses ✅ ✅
Parses address ✅ ✅
Single field address entry ❌ ✅
Address autocomplete ❌ ✅
15mm non-postal addresses ❌ ✅
Free to use? ✅ ✅*
Max address lookups per request 5 ∞
Lookups per second ~5 100,000+
Included output data ⇧ ⇧
Supports international addresses ❌ ✅
Can be used for shipping UPS, FedEx, and other shippers ❌ ✅
Database cleansing permitted ❌ ✅
Bulk address verification permitted ❌ ✅
Guaranteed speed and reliability ❌ ✅
Phone, email, and chat support ❌ ✅
*30-day, 1,000 lookup trial (no credit card required)

Yes. The address verification tools offered by the USPS are free and simple to use—but come with limitations. Only you can determine if these limitations are deal-breakers.

For a deep dive into the steps of address validation and how they improve business results, check out our free ebook:

Read our 5 address validation use cases ebook now

If you're looking for a long-term solution with the power and features you need to get the most out of your address data and help you maintain a clean database, Smarty's US Address Verification might be just what you need.

With US Address Verification by Smarty, you get the fastest and most accurate single address verification, bulk address validation, and address validation APIs on the planet. You'll benefit from:

  • Enhanced address matching
  • All USPS database addresses
  • 15+ million non-postal addresses
  • Standardized address data
  • Additional metadata
  • Great documentation
  • Lightning-fast speeds
  • Legendary support

Check out the live API on our site or sign up for a 30-day free trial(no credit card required).

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