Importing zip codes

This entry will show you how to quickly import zip codes into your database. From there, they can be used with AJAX lookups or verification.

Step 1: Download the zips.txt into your RoR (rails) db directory or some other place.
http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/zips.txt

Step 2: Generate the table in MySQL

CREATE TABLE zip_codes (
id INTEGER NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT
, zip CHAR(5)
, state CHAR(2)
, town VARCHAR(50)
, population INTEGER
, PRIMARY KEY (id)
);


Step 3: Generate the model

ruby script\generator scaffold zip_code


Step 4: Run this import code

require 'csv'
CSV.open("#{RAILS_ROOT}/db/zips.txt", "r") do |row|
zip = ZipCode.new
zip.zip = row[1]
zip.state = row[2]
zip.town = row[3]
zip.population = row[6]
zip.save!
end


You can then monitor the table size and wait for it to grow to 29k+.