Virginia ZIP Codes: Ranges, Prefixes and Major Cities

Whether you are building an address form, cleaning a mailing list or testing shipping rules, it helps to know how ZIP codes work in Virginia. The state has 1,213 active codes spread across 154 counties.

ZIP code range and prefixes

Every Virginia ZIP code starts with one of 29 three-digit prefixes. Each prefix points to a sectional center facility, the processing plant that sorts mail for a group of nearby post offices.

  • 201
  • 205
  • 220
  • 221
  • 222
  • 223
  • 224
  • 225
  • 226
  • 227
  • 228
  • 229
  • 230
  • 231
  • 232
  • 233
  • 234
  • 235
  • 236
  • 237
  • 238
  • 239
  • 240
  • 241
  • 242
  • 243
  • 244
  • 245
  • 246

Types of ZIP codes in Virginia

TypeCountWhat it covers
Standard857Street delivery areas
PO Box264Post office boxes only
Unique92A single high-volume organization

ZIP codes for major Virginia cities

CityCountyStandard ZIPsRange
RichmondRichmond city1723219–23298
AlexandriaFairfax County1622301–22332
NorfolkNorfolk city1423502–23523
Virginia BeachVirginia Beach city1223451–23464
ArlingtonArlington County1022201–22214
RoanokeRoanoke city924011–24019
FairfaxFairfax County722030–22036
HenricoHenrico County723075–23294
Newport NewsNewport News city723601–23608
PortsmouthPortsmouth city723701–23709
SuffolkSuffolk city723432–23438
ChesapeakeChesapeake city623320–23325
HamptonHampton city623661–23669
CharlottesvilleAlbemarle County522901–22911
Falls ChurchFairfax County522041–22046

Richmond is the state capital. Larger cities have many ZIP codes because each code follows mail delivery routes, not city limits.

Sample addresses

Olivia Nguyen 5501 Forest Ave Arlington, VA 22203
Ashley Wilson 3209 Sunset Rd Norfolk, VA 23519
Jamal Kim 7027 Oak Ct Fairfax, VA 22034

These examples use real city and ZIP pairs with invented street lines, so they are safe for testing and documentation.

Tips for working with these ZIP codes

  • Store ZIP codes as text, not numbers, so the format stays consistent across states with leading zeros.
  • All of Virginia is in the Eastern time zone, which keeps scheduling logic simple.
  • A quick sanity check: a valid VA ZIP code begins with one of the prefixes listed above.
  • City names in addresses are post office names. A suburb may share a ZIP code and city name with a nearby larger town.

Create realistic Virginia addresses for testing, with real cities, counties and ZIP codes.

Generate Virginia addresses