Using mapBuilder, found below most map tools on randymajors.org, you can create custom territory/area maps using a spreadsheet containing ZIP Codes. Now you can include 3-digit ZIP Codes in your spreadsheet, which are simply the first 3-digits of a 5-digit ZIP Code. 3-digit ZIP Codes are a great option because there are just under 1,000 of them in the U.S. vs over 40,000 5-digit ZIP Codes. The benefit: Much smaller spreadsheets and faster maps.
Here is an example of 3-digit ZIP Codes to define some territories in the New York City metro area:
Now, let’s say you want to expand Territory D to cover Rockaway, NJ in the upper left corner of the above map. Clicking the map, you see that the ZIP Codes you want are 07834 and 07866, so the three digit ZIP Code is 078. Adding 078 to your custom spreadsheet, you get this map:
Whoa! 078 covered way too much area — you didn’t intend to expand the territory all the way to Pennsylvania!
So, until now, you’d be stuck coming up with a much longer list of all 5-digit ZIP Codes to define your custom area. Now, with this latest enhancement you can simply mix-and-match 3-digit and 5-digit ZIP Codes in the same spreadsheet to create just tha map you want. So here’s how your spreadsheet looks for this example:
Note the last two rows of the spreadsheet contain 5-digit ZIP Codes, with the rest defined as 3-digit ZIP Codes (the 3- and 5-digit ZIP Codes can be intermixed in any order in the spreadsheet). Now you get just the map you were looking for, with just Rockaway added rather than a huge territory going all the way to Pennsylvania:
Once you create your map, use the “Share/Save Map” button in the upper left corner of the map to save the map to your account or to copy the link so you can link to the map from another website. I hope this enhancement helps with your custom area map creation.
Happy mapping!