How to use the EDDM route tool, every feature explained

Short answers

The two questions people ask first

What is the USPS EDDM tool?

It is the Every Door Direct Mail Online Tool that USPS runs for choosing carrier routes and ordering EDDM Retail postage. You search a ZIP code or address, pick routes and see address counts. Our route tool covers the same planning step, then prices printing and the mailing service too. The comparison below lists what each one does.

What is EDDM Retail?

EDDM Retail is the version of Every Door Direct Mail you take to the Post Office yourself. It needs no permit and no mailing list, and USPS accepts up to 5,000 pieces per ZIP code per day. With Print Only we ship the printed pieces to you for that drop-off. The EDDM guide covers the size and bundling rules.

Quick start

Pick your routes in four steps

Enter a ZIP code, select routes, check who you will reach, then choose a mailer. Nothing is charged until checkout.

1. 1

   Enter a ZIP code or address

   Type a 5-digit ZIP code or the address of your shop. The map draws every USPS carrier route there, with address counts.

2. 2

   Select the routes you want

   Click routes on the map, tick them in the table, draw an area around them, or filter by income, homeowners and age and select every match.

3. 3

   Check who you will reach

   The selection summary shows routes and homes as you pick. Open Who lives here or the heatmap to see income, age and home ownership.

4. 4

   Choose your mailer and review

   Pick Full Service or Print Only, a format, a size and a mail date. Review the routes, then continue to checkout.

At a glance

Every feature and when to use it

01 · Find your routes

Search by ZIP code or address

A ZIP search covers the whole ZIP code. An address search covers the routes within a distance of that address, from 1 to 5 miles, which is the most USPS EDDM allows.

Under the search box the tool shows the place it found and a count, for example 70 routes · 53,940 total for 77494. That total is every address on every route in the search, before you select anything. A line below confirms the figures are live USPS carrier route and household counts.

Each route has a code like 77494-C033. The letter after the ZIP code is the route type, and the guide under the tool explains each one.

02 · Select routes

Four ways to select routes

Use whichever fits how you think about your market. You can mix them: draw an area, then click a few routes to add or remove.

Point and click

With Point & click active, click a route to select it and click again to remove it. Click a route and a card opens with its households, businesses, total addresses, estimated postage and the profile of who lives there. Selected routes turn orange.

Table view

Choose Table above the map to see every route as a row with its residential count, business count, total, miles from your search, median income and estimated postage. Tick a row, or click it, to select. It is the quickest way to compare routes or to pick the largest ones first.

Draw an area

Choose Draw an area, then press and drag around the part of town you want. Release to select the routes in the shape. Cancel from the hint at the bottom of the map if you change your mind.

Undo, redo and start over

Undo and Redo step through your selections. Clear selections empties the selection but keeps the map, Clear overlays removes the heatmap or radius, and Start over resets everything.

Read the selection summary

The panel on the right counts Routes, Residential, Business, PO box routes and Addresses to mail. Addresses to mail is your piece count. It is homes only until you tick Include business addresses, which adds the business count.

03 · Filter routes

Filter by income, homeowners and age

Three drop-downs above the map narrow the routes to your best customers. Combine them, then select every match in one click.

• Income: $50K+, $75K+, $100K+, $125K+, $150K+ or $200K+ median household income.
• Homeowners: 50%+, 70%+, 80%+ or 90%+ of households own their home.
• Median age: under 35, 35 to 44, 45 to 54 or 55 and over.

The tool shows how many routes and homes match, for example 54 of 70 routes · 39,216 homes for income of $125K+ in 77494, with a Select these 54 routes button. Routes that do not match fade on the map. Clear filters resets them.

04 · Map overlays

Three overlays that show who lives where

Open an overlay from the tools column on the left. Close it with the X, or choose Clear overlays.

Demographic heatmap

Pick a measure and every route is colored from light to dark: Median income, Median age, Household size, Home ownership, Apartments or Home value. A legend lists the five ranges. Type your own low and high values and choose Select routes in this range to select every route inside it.

Radius

Choose Radius to mail around a point. Set the distance, choose Place on the map, then click where your shop is. The tool adds every route inside the ring and tells you how many it added. Radius offers 0.5, 1, 2, 3 or 5 miles. The screenshot under Point and click shows a 1-mile ring that added 12 routes.

Who lives here

Once you have routes selected, Who lives here summarizes the households on all of them: median income, median age, people per home, share who own their home, share in apartments, median home value, share aged 65 and over and share under 19. The figures are weighted by households across your selected routes.

05 · Map views

Map, Satellite, Hybrid and Table

The buttons at the top of the map switch the view without losing your selection.

Map shows streets and place names. Satellite shows aerial imagery, which makes rooftops, open land and commercial or industrial areas easy to tell apart. Hybrid adds street labels over the imagery. Table switches to the list of routes. Use Satellite before you commit to a route that looks dense on paper but turns out to be warehouses or farmland.

06 · Help me choose routes

Let the tool suggest routes for your business

New to EDDM, or short on time? Choose Help me choose routes at the top of the right panel. It asks three things and selects routes for you. You can change anything afterward.

1. 1

   Tell it your business

   Pick one of 14 types: Roofing, Landscaping and lawn care, HVAC, Plumbing, electrical and home services, Real estate, Restaurant or café, Dental, Medical and healthcare, Gym or fitness, Auto repair, Retail store, Church or nonprofit, Political campaign, Something else.

2. 2

   Choose who to reach and how many homes

   It suggests an audience for your business and explains why, for example higher-value homes for roofing. You can pick another audience. Then choose about 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 or 10,000 homes, or all the good matches.

3. 3

   Review the matching routes

   It selects the best-fit routes in your search area and tells you how many routes and homes it picked. Choose Adjust on the map to fine-tune, Try another audience to start over, or Review these routes to continue.

07 · Review and share

Check every route before you order

Choose Review routes & demographics under the selection summary. It scrolls to a review of exactly what you selected.

The review shows Homes, Businesses (not included) and what you are mailing to, then a Who you'll reach panel with median household income, median home value, share who own their home, apartments, median age, people per home, seniors and under 19. Below that, a table lists every ZIP code and route with its counts and demographics, and a totals row.

Print, email, save or share

At the bottom of the review, under Keep or share these routes:

• Print or save as PDF for a copy to hand to a partner or keep on file.
• Email this review to any address, such as a business partner or a client who has to sign off.
• Save to my account to reopen the routes later from your campaigns.
• Copy link to get a link that reopens the same ZIP code and routes.

08 · Choose your mailer

Pick Full Service or Print Only, then a mailer

You choose the mailer after the routes, in the panel on the right and again at the bottom of the review.

• Full Service: we print, bundle by route, prepare the USPS paperwork and deliver the mailing to USPS. You approve the proof.
• Print Only: we print and ship to you, and you mail it as EDDM Retail at your Post Office. You skip the mailing service fee.
• Mailer: choose Postcards, Flyers or Sell Sheets, then a size and a paper.
• Mail date: pick from the dates the tool offers for your order.

The itemized price for your exact routes appears before you pay: printing, the mailing service and USPS postage. Prices depend on size, paper and quantity, so see live prices by size and quantity or the EDDM size guide to compare. Choose Continue to checkout when you are ready.

09 · Worked examples

How the filters behave for four kinds of business

These are real results from the tool for ZIP code 77494, which has 70 routes and 53,940 addresses. They show how the filters narrow a ZIP, not what any business should mail. Counts change when the USPS or Census data behind the tool updates.

What the roofing selection looks like

Selecting those 39 routes and opening Who lives here gives one profile for the whole selection: median household income $167,719, median age 37, 3.4 people per home, 91% of households owning their home, 3% in apartments, median home value $441,547, 9% aged 65 and over and 29% under 19. That is the check to run before you pay for printing: does the profile look like your customer?

Four things the examples show

• Stacked filters can empty the list. Income $150K+ with a median age of 45 to 54 returned zero routes here. When that happens, loosen one filter and check the count again.
• Small selections work, up to a point. The gym example is 4,888 homes. USPS lists a 200-piece minimum for EDDM Retail orders, so a very narrow filter may need more routes to reach it.
• Each industry has its own playbook. The business names in the table link to the EDDM playbook for your industry, with sizing and offer ideas.
• Distance and demographics answer different questions. Filters find the people who look like your customers. Radius finds the people close enough to visit.

10 · The USPS EDDM tool

How this compares to the USPS EDDM tool

USPS runs the official EDDM Online Tool, where EDDM Retail postage is ordered. Our route tool covers the same planning step, then prices printing and mailing with it. You can plan with either, and many people check both.

The USPS column reflects what its tool page states today. Its features can change, so check eddm.usps.com for the current list. "Not listed" means we did not see it on that page, not that the feature is missing.

11 · Which tool when

Match the tool to your goal

12 · Questions

Route tool FAQ

Quick answers about how the tool works and where its numbers come from.

Where to go next

Keep going