How To Parse City, State, and Zip Code into Separate Values

• Applies to:

  Access for Microsoft 365, Access 2019, Access 2016, Access 2013, Access 2010, Access 2007, Access 2003

Original product version:   Microsoft Office Access 2003, Microsoft Office Access 2007, Access 2010
Original KB number:   168798

Summary

This article provides a procedure for parsing a single variable containing US City, State, and Zip Code information into three separate variables. The routine supports:

• Either 5- or 9-digit zip code.
• Multi-word state names (if preceded by a comma).
• Any number of intermediate spaces.

Examples of supported inputs:

New York, New York, 99999
New York, NY, 99999-9999
New York, NY 99999-9999
New York NY 99999

More information

WARNING: ANY USE BY YOU OF THE CODE/MACRO PROVIDED IN THIS ARTICLE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. Microsoft provides this code/macro "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

NOTE: In the following sample code, an underscore (_) at the end of a line is used as a line-continuation character. For versions of BASIC that don't support line-continuation characters, remove the underscore from the end of the line and merge with the following line when re-creating this code.

Fields are parsed in the following order if no commas are found in the address: Zip Code, State, City If at least one comma is present, it is presumed to be between City and State, and the fields are parsed in a different order: City, State, Zip Code

Step-by-Step Example

1. Enter the following code:

   Function CutLastWord (ByVal S As String, Remainder As String) _
            As String
       ' CutLastWord: returns the last word in S.
       ' Remainder: returns the rest.
       '
       ' Words are separated by spaces
       '
       Dim I           As Integer, P As Integer
       S = Trim$(S)
       P = 1
       For I = Len(S) To 1 Step -1
           If Mid$(S, I, 1) = " " Then
               P = I + 1
               Exit For
           End If
       Next I
       If P = 1 Then
           CutLastWord = S
           Remainder = ""
       Else
           CutLastWord = Mid$(S, P)
           Remainder = Trim$(Left$(S, P - 1))
       End If
   End Function
   
   Sub ParseCSZ (ByVal S As String, City As String, State As String, _
       Zip             As String)
       Dim P           As Integer
       '
       ' Check for comma after city name
       '
       P = InStr(S, ",")
       If P > 0 Then
           City = Trim$(Left$(S, P - 1))
           S = Trim$(Mid$(S, P +        '
           ' Check for comma after state
           '
           P = InStr(S, ",")
           If P > 0 Then
               State = Trim$(Left$(S, P - 1))
               Zip = Trim$(Mid$(S, P + 1))
           Else        ' No comma between state and zip
               Zip = CutLastWord(S, S)
               State = S
           End If
       Else        ' No commas between city, state, or zip
           Zip = CutLastWord(S, S)
           State = CutLastWord(S, S)
           City = S
       End If
       '
       ' Clean up any dangling commas
       '
       If Right$(State, 1) = "," Then
           State = RTrim$(Left$(State, Len(State) - 1))
       End If
       If Right$(City, 1) = "," Then
           City = RTrim$(Left$(City, Len(City) - 1))
       End If
   End Sub
   

2. To test, create a form with four text boxes (txtAddress, txtCity, txtState, txtZip), and a command button. Add the following code:

   Sub Command1_Click()
       Dim City        As String, State As String, Zip As String
       ParseCSZ txtAddress, City, State, Zip
       txtCity = City
       txtState = State
       txtZip = Zip
   End Sub
   

3. Display the form, type an address into txtAddress, and click the command button. The other three fields should contain the parsed values.