What is the probability of getting your zip code when randomly generating five digits?
The probability of correctly guessing a ZIP code by randomly generating a five-digit number depends on a few factors. ZIP codes in the United States range from 00001 to 99950, representing various locations. However, not all five-digit combinations are in use as ZIP codes.
If we were to assume that any five-digit number could be a valid ZIP code, then the probability of guessing a specific ZIP code correctly with one random attempt would be 199950−1+199950−1+11because there are 99,950 possible five-digit numbers that could be ZIP codes if we include the full range of 00001 to 99950.
Let’s calculate this probability.
The probability of correctly guessing a specific ZIP code by randomly generating a five-digit number, assuming all five-digit combinations are valid, would be 0.00001, or 1 in 100,000. However, not all five-digit combinations are used as ZIP codes, so the actual probability may differ slightly.
# Calculate the probability of guessing a specific ZIP code correctly
# The range of possible ZIP codes if all 5-digit combinations were valid
possible_zip_codes = 99950 – 1 + 1
# The probability of guessing one specific ZIP code
probability = 1 / possible_zip_codes
probability
Result
1.0005002501250626e-05