PL postcode district map, Plymouth
Supplier statuses last checked .
The PL postcode area covers 36 districts and 17,884 live postcodes, from PL1 to PL95. It is centred on Plymouth and also covers Sherford, St Austell, Saltash, Tavistock and Bodmin.
Districts here average 497 postcodes.
Where the PL districts sit
10 districts are plotted without a label where labels would overlap; every one is in the table below.
Where PL sits
It falls across Cornwall, City of Plymouth and Devon.
Water supply across PL
All 36 PL districts are supplied by South West Water, which is notable at this size: an area with this many districts usually crosses at least one supply boundary, and this one does not.
South West Water has a hosepipe ban in force from 8 August 2026, covering the whole of PL.
The shape of the PL area
PL14 is the largest district with 1,023 postcodes around Liskeard, and PL95 the smallest with 30. The area divides into 98 postcode sectors.
No single district dominates: the largest holds only about 6 per cent of the area's postcodes.
The numbering is not continuous. PL runs up to 95 but has only 36 districts, so 59 numbers are unused:.
Several districts share a settlement, which is a common source of confusion when a form rejects an address: PL1, PL2, PL3, PL4, PL6 and PL95 all point at Plymouth, PL32, PL33, PL34 and PL35 all point at Camelford and PL7, PL8 and PL9 all point at Sherford.
What borders PL
PL sits next to TQ (Torquay) to the east, EX (Exeter) to the north east, TR (Truro) to the west, TA (Taunton) to the north east and DT (Dorchester) to the east.
PL districts, settlements and water supply
| District | Principal settlement | Water company | Hosepipe ban status |
|---|---|---|---|
| PL1 | Plymouth | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL2 | Plymouth | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL3 | Plymouth | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL4 | Plymouth | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL5 | Saltash | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL6 | Plymouth | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL7 | Sherford | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL8 | Sherford | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL9 | Sherford | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL10 | Torpoint | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL11 | Torpoint | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL12 | Saltash | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL13 | Looe | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL14 | Liskeard | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL15 | Launceston | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL16 | Launceston | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL17 | Callington | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL18 | Tavistock | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL19 | Tavistock | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL20 | Tavistock | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL21 | Ivybridge | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL22 | Lostwithiel | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL23 | Fowey | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL24 | St Blazey | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL25 | St Austell | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL26 | St Austell | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL27 | Wadebridge | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL28 | Padstow | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL29 | Wadebridge | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL30 | Bodmin | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL31 | Bodmin | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL32 | Camelford | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL33 | Camelford | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL34 | Camelford | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL35 | Camelford | South West Water | Ban in force |
| PL95 | Plymouth | South West Water | Ban in force |
Principal settlement is the town or city each district sits in or nearest to, derived from OS Open Names. It is not the Royal Mail post town, which is licensed data and not published openly. Status is resolved live from each company’s own notice.
Water hardness in PL
No water company covering PL publishes hardness figures as open data. The gap is named per district below so you know who to ask.
| District | Hardness | As published | Supply zone | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PL1 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL2 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL3 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL4 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL5 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL6 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL7 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL8 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL9 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL10 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL11 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL12 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL13 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL14 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL15 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL16 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL17 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL18 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL19 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL20 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL21 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL22 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL23 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL24 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL25 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL26 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL27 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL28 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL29 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL30 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL31 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL32 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL33 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL34 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL35 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
| PL95 | Not published by South West Water. Check with your supplier. | |||
Hardness is published per census area, not per postcode, so these figures characterise a district rather than measuring one address. They are a scale and taste matter, not a safety one. Hardness data version wessex-water@2022-2025+yorkshire-water@2026.
Download the PL data
No signup, no email wall. GeoJSON carries the district points, the supplier and the live status, so it can be dropped straight into a map.
District positions are averaged postcode centroids from OS Code-Point Open. They show roughly where a district sits, not where its boundary runs, and are not legal boundaries.
Frequently asked questions
How many postcode districts are in the PL area?
There are 36 PL postcode districts, running from PL1 to PL95, and they contain 17,884 live postcodes across 98 sectors.
What towns does the PL postcode area cover?
PL covers Plymouth, Sherford, St Austell, Saltash, Tavistock and Bodmin. The area takes its name from Plymouth, and each district is listed with its settlement in the table on this page.
Which water company supplies PL postcodes?
South West Water supplies all 36 PL districts. Supply boundaries follow the pipe network rather than postcode geography, so confirm against your water bill if you are near the edge of the area.
Why do PL1 and PL2 both say Plymouth?
PL1, PL2, PL3, PL4, PL6 and PL95 all serve Plymouth, covering different parts of it. A single town routinely needs more than one postcode district once it passes a few thousand delivery points, so this is normal rather than an error in an address.
Can I download a free PL postcode map?
Yes. This page offers the PL districts as GeoJSON, CSV and SVG, free and with no signup or email address required. The GeoJSON carries each district's position, its water company and its current restriction status, so it can be dropped straight into a mapping tool.
Why is the PL area called Plymouth when it covers Liskeard?
PL takes its letters from Plymouth, where the sorting office that served the area was based when the code was allocated. Liskeard is the largest settlement in the area today, in PL14, but the area code follows the historic sorting geography rather than current population.
Which councils cover the PL postcode area?
PL reaches into Cornwall, City of Plymouth and Devon. A postcode area is not a council area: they were drawn for different purposes and a single district can sit across a council boundary, so your postcode does not tell you which authority you pay.