Return multiple city, state suggestions from one zipcode search - zipcode

Question

I'd like to use an API service of some sort to take in a zipcode and return any cities that match this zipcode.
USPS manual lookup on their site does this, and Crate and Barrel does this in their checkout.
It seems like the zipcode API from USPS is only able to return one city though. I've looked into Geonames database, but it also seems set up for only one city per zip.
Is there a way to accomplish this?

Answer 1

I'll go ahead and post #Matt's answer, since I've used the SmartyStreets ZIP Code API for just that purpose. You can query this API one of three ways:
ZIP Code
City + State
City + State + ZIP Code
For a single ZIP Code (which is what you are asking about) this is a simple GET request:
curl -v 'https://us-zipcode.api.smartystreets.com/lookup?
auth-id=YOUR+AUTH-ID+HERE&
auth-token=YOUR+AUTH-TOKEN+HERE&
zipcode=65202'
The response (with valid AUTH-ID and AUTH-TOKEN) is:
[
{
"input_index": 0,
"city_states": [
{
"city": "Columbia",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri",
"mailable_city": true
},
{
"city": "Hinton",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri",
"mailable_city": false
},
{
"city": "Lindbergh",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri",
"mailable_city": false
},
{
"city": "Midway",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri",
"mailable_city": false
},
{
"city": "Murry",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri",
"mailable_city": false
},
{
"city": "Prathersville",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri",
"mailable_city": false
},
{
"city": "Shaw",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri",
"mailable_city": false
},
{
"city": "Stephens",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri",
"mailable_city": false
}
],
"zipcodes": [
{
"zipcode": "65202",
"zipcode_type": "S",
"default_city": "Columbia",
"county_fips": "29019",
"county_name": "Boone",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri",
"latitude": 38.99775,
"longitude": -92.30798,
"precision": "Zip5",
"alternate_counties": [
{
"county_fips": "29027",
"county_name": "Callaway",
"state_abbreviation": "MO",
"state": "Missouri"
}
]
}
]
}
]
As you can see, this gives the same list of cities as your picture example. It also includes more detailed information on the first city_state in the list.
For completeness, here is a sample request demonstrating all three query options. (n.b. For any request outside of a single ZIP Code, the API requires a POST call):
curl -v 'https://us-zipcode.api.smartystreets.com/lookup?
auth-id=YOUR+AUTH-ID+HERE&
auth-token=YOUR+AUTH-TOKEN+HERE'
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
--data-binary '
[
{
"zipcode":"12345"
},
{
"city":"North Pole",
"state":"AK"
},
{
"city":"cupertino",
"state":"CA",
"zipcode":"95014"
}
]'
And here is the response for that example request:
[
{
"input_index": 0,
"city_states": [
{
"city": "Schenectady",
"state_abbreviation": "NY",
"state": "New York",
"mailable_city": true
},
{
"city": "General Electric",
"state_abbreviation": "NY",
"state": "New York",
"mailable_city": false
},
{
"city": "Schdy",
"state_abbreviation": "NY",
"state": "New York",
"mailable_city": false
}
],
"zipcodes": [
{
"zipcode": "12345",
"zipcode_type": "U",
"default_city": "Schenectady",
"county_fips": "36093",
"county_name": "Schenectady",
"state_abbreviation": "NY",
"state": "New York",
"latitude": 42.81565,
"longitude": -73.94232,
"precision": "Zip5"
}
]
},
{
"input_index": 1,
"city_states": [
{
"city": "North Pole",
"state_abbreviation": "AK",
"state": "Alaska",
"mailable_city": true
}
],
"zipcodes": [
{
"zipcode": "99705",
"zipcode_type": "S",
"default_city": "North Pole",
"county_fips": "02090",
"county_name": "Fairbanks North Star",
"state_abbreviation": "AK",
"state": "Alaska",
"latitude": 64.77911,
"longitude": -147.36885,
"precision": "Zip5"
}
]
},
{
"input_index": 2,
"city_states": [
{
"city": "Cupertino",
"state_abbreviation": "CA",
"state": "California",
"mailable_city": true
}
],
"zipcodes": [
{
"zipcode": "95014",
"zipcode_type": "S",
"default_city": "Cupertino",
"county_fips": "06085",
"county_name": "Santa Clara",
"state_abbreviation": "CA",
"state": "California",
"latitude": 37.32056,
"longitude": -122.03865,
"precision": "Zip5"
}
]
}
]
I hope that helps!
EDIT - I've updated this with an example specific to the question. Thanks to #AmyAnuszewski for calling that out.