Skip to content
USPS EDDM Guide
Map index

Independent guide. Not affiliated with or endorsed by USPS.

Guide › Reading the map

Grid A2 · Reading the map

Reading the EDDM map

The map and the route table are two views of the same routes. Select a route in one and it changes in the other. Here's what the markings mean.

Surveyed November 7, 2026

POHover (preview)Homes + businessesBusiness onlyPO Box routeNIllustration, not to scale
Our drawing of how the tool marks routes. The streets and routes are invented.

The colors

  • PurpleHovering in the table
  • BlueSelected: homes and businesses
  • GreenSelected: businesses only
  • Orange iconSelected: PO Box route
  • CircleThe location you searched
  • Purple means you're hovering over a route in the table. It's a preview, not a selection.
  • Blue is a selected route with homes and businesses.
  • Green is a selected route with businesses only.
  • Orange icon is a selected PO Box route. Those pieces go into Post Office boxes, not to doors.
  • Circle icon is the location you searched.

The tool has a key in the lower right corner of the map with the same symbols.

Selecting on a tablet

Touch screens can't hover, so the tool counts taps. The first tap highlights a route, the second selects it and a third deselects it.

Map or table?

Use the map to see the shape of a route: which streets it covers, where it starts and stops, and what's on either side of a main road. Use the table to compare numbers. Most people pick a rough area on the map, then make the final choice in the table, where counts and census figures sit side by side.

Field note: routes are drawn for delivering mail, not around neighborhood names. Check a route's shape on the map before assuming it covers the area you have in mind.

Why are some routes green?

Green marks a selected route that's business only.

What does the orange icon mean?

A selected PO Box route. Those pieces go into Post Office boxes.

Can I draw my own area on the map?

No. You select whole routes. When you search by a full address you can narrow the results by location, but every route you add comes in whole.