data from plist when plist root is Dictonary NSBundle *bundle = [NSBundle mainBundle]; NSString *plistPath = [bundle pathForResource:@"statedictionary" ofType:@"plist"]; NSDictionary *dictionary = [[NSDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:plistPath]; self.stateZips = dictionary; [dictionary release]; NSArray *components = [self.stateZips allKeys]; NSArray *sorted = [components sortedArrayUsingSelector:@selector(compare:)]; self.states = sorted; NSString *selectedState = [self.states objectAtIndex:0]; NSArray *array = [stateZips objectForKey:selectedState]; self.zips = array;