Random Chicago Address Generator

The Random Chicago Address Generator returns between 1 and 10 addresses from a list of 1,000, each in the standard US one-line form: house number, street, "Chicago, IL" and a five-digit ZIP code in the 606xx range that Chicago actually uses. A typical result is "2044 Meadow St., Chicago, IL 60613". Every card has a copy button that puts the full line on your clipboard.

The addresses are fictional. The house numbers and street names are generic (Walnut St., Chestnut St., 6th St., Oak St.) rather than real Chicago streets, so a generated line will not lead a courier to anyone's door. The ZIP codes, on the other hand, are real Chicago ZIPs, 113 different ones across the list, which is what makes the results useful for testing forms that validate city against ZIP.

What you get and what you can set

One input: how many addresses, from 1 to 10. Each press draws that many distinct lines from the list; press again for a different set. There is no neighborhood or ZIP filter, and no way to get the street, city and ZIP as separate fields. If you need to split the line, the comma after the street name and the space before the ZIP make it easy to parse.

Sample output

Ways people use it

• Form and checkout testing. Chicago is a common test city because it has many ZIPs in one municipality. Paste a batch of ten into address fields and check that "Chicago" plus a 606xx ZIP passes your validator while a mismatched state fails.
• Sample data for databases and demos. A thousand distinct lines is enough to seed a customer table without repeating.
• Fiction and screenwriting. When a character needs a street address on the North Side, a made-up street with a real Lakeview ZIP reads right without pointing at a real house.
• Design mock-ups. Shipping labels, ID card templates and map UI screenshots need address text that looks real and is not.

How Chicago addresses and ZIP codes work

If you want a generated address to look convincing to someone who knows the city, a few facts help.

• ZIP codes. Almost all of Chicago falls in 60601 to 60661. The Loop is 60601 to 60607; the near North Side is 60610, 60611 and 60614; the South Side runs from 60615 through the 60620s and 60630s; the Northwest Side is 60630 to 60659. Numbers from 60664 to 60699 are mostly PO box, business-reply and unique ZIPs (60666 is O'Hare's, 60699 is a unique corporate ZIP), and a few of those appear in the list, so filter them out if your test needs residential ZIPs only.
• The grid. Chicago numbers its streets from the corner of State Street and Madison Street. Every 800 numbers is one mile, and real addresses carry a directional prefix: 3700 N Clark St, 1200 S Wabash Ave. The generated addresses omit the N/S/E/W prefix, which is the quickest tell that they are fictional.
• Postal form. The USPS-preferred format is all caps on two lines: street on line one, "CHICAGO IL 60613" on line two, no comma. The generator's single comma-separated line is the form most web forms and CSV files expect.
• Phone area codes. Landlines and mobiles in the city use 312, 773 and 872, if you are building a complete fake profile.

For addresses elsewhere in the state, with suburbs and downstate towns, use the Random Illinois Address generator. For other big cities try the Random New York Address Generator or Random Address in Los Angeles, and for a nationwide mix the Random US Address Generator. All of these are listed under all address and postal code generators.