Is it a good idea to use an integer column for storing US ZIP codes in a database?

Question

From first glance, it would appear I have two basic choices for storing ZIP codes in a database table:

1. Text (probably most common), i.e. char(5) o

Answer 1

ZIP code is really a coded namespace, if you think about it. Traditionally digits, but also a hyphen and capital letters:

"10022-SHOE"

http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/main/10022-shoe.jsp

Realistically, a lot of business applications will not need to support this edge case, even if it is valid.