How It Works

poweroutagetoday is a crowd-sourced power outage tracker for the United States. Anyone can report a power outage or restoration for their five-digit ZIP code, and everyone nearby can see what neighbors are reporting in real time.

1. Search your ZIP code or city

Type a ZIP code, city or county in the search box, or tap the location button. Every ZIP code in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. territories has its own live page, and ZIP codes that USPS lists under several city names have a page for each name.

2. Report an outage or restoration

Tap Power is out when the lights go off and Power is back when it returns. Reports are anonymous: we don’t ask for your name, phone number or street address. To keep the data clean, each device can report the same ZIP code only once every few minutes.

3. How the status is calculated

When the most recent reports say the power is out, the ZIP code shows Outage reported once people on at least two different networks agree (one report shows Possible outage). It stays open until someone reports Power is back, or until 24 hours pass with no new outage report, when it is marked Resolved automatically. With no recent reports the page shows No recent reports, which does not prove the power is on.

4. Confidence score

The confidence score (0–100) reflects how many different people reported and how recently. Treat it as a signal, not a guarantee.

5. Your utility and emergency numbers

Each ZIP page lists the electric utilities that serve it (from the U.S. Department of Energy / NREL utility-by-ZIP dataset), with their official outage-reporting numbers and outage maps, plus 911, 988, 211, your state emergency management agency and your state utility regulator. Always report outages to your utility too: this site does not notify utilities.

Safety first

Stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines and call 911 and your utility. Never run a generator indoors or in a garage – carbon monoxide kills. If someone depends on powered medical equipment, have a backup plan and call 911 in an emergency.