Do you know how many Rochester NY zip codes there are? You would think only a handful, right? How many can you fit into a city? Well, take a seat for this one, because there are actually 40 zip codes for Rochester NY Monroe County.

In terms of Monroe County Rochester NY takes up the bulk of it. Yes, there are about 25 little towns and villages dotted all across the county, but for the most part, most people consider them just suburbs of Rochester itself, not even their own individual little units. That means that of the 40 in the county, Rochester NY zip codes make up anywhere between 50% to 75% of those.

Rochester is the third biggest city in the state. Of course New York is the biggest, and Buffalo just barely beats out Rochester in terms of population. But Roch is still larger than Syracuse, Yonkers or even Albany. Because it is so big, and more dense than most of the other cities in the state, there are more people packed into the area.

Think of it in terms of actual acreage. Rochester takes up almost all of the eastern half of the county. Which leaves the other half for the smaller towns. Now, look at all of the people in the city, all of the people that fall in the footprint of Rochester. Take that same size footprint and look to the west. It may be a lot of villages and towns, but populations are spread out there. The bulk of the people in the entire county live in the city.

Perhaps a quick explanation of zip codes would help to clarify things. Introduced in 1963, ZIP is actually the acronym for Zone Improvement Plan. The zip code was used to segment the United States into specific little portions, so that mail delivery could be more detailed and precise. After all, would you prefer if someone asked you to deliver something to Rochester NY, or to 14607 Rochester NY?

As mentioned prior, because there are so many people packed into the city, it is broken down into even smaller portions. Even though they are smaller than the zip code zones in the west of the county, they can still have just as many, if not more, people residing in them.

Which zip do you live in? Or have you had a variety of zip codes while living in Rochester? I have had three separate Rochester NY zip codes in my time here so far. Rochester is a unique city, with a unique set of zip codes. If you have lived here long enough, you may even come to recognize an area of the city by its zip. Did you know that the zip code for most of the 19th Ward is 14619?