Maybe it had to happen.  There is a website called ZipSkinny.  If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t wait.  According to an amusing article by Kris Berg at Inman, she was blindsided by a client who had done his research at ZipSkinny.

It’s a cute little site.  You can look up demographics by zip code or by city name.   You’ll find basic demographics, you can compare the demographics of one zip to another, view schools in the zip code and review a Google map.  You can also build a widget to display on a website or blog.   I’ll wager the site is mostly used by consumers, though, so I’m not sure how many widgets there are out there.

But, one example of a widget is shown below.  To be honest, I just picked a random zip and used the default colors for the chart, but the widget builder has full HEX number color control.  The charts can be made to fit into the colors of your site.

I was pretty impressed by the information provided about the site.  The developers let their visitor know that the information is based on Census 2000 data and they identify the limitations to the data presented.  In summary, they say:

• “The site provides an interesting “first glance” at a ZIP Code area, but it should only be seen as that — a first glance. It is not a substitute for the more thorough research you should do prior to making decisions about relocating to or conducting business in a particular location.”

Refreshing.  No claims or intimations of complete accuracy.  It is what it is – a good first glance.