List of U.S. state abbreviations

Several sets of codes and abbreviations are used to represent the political divisions of the United States for postal addresses, data processing, general abbreviations, and other purposes.

Table

This table includes abbreviations for three independent nations related to the United States through Compacts of Free Association, and other comparable postal abbreviations, including those now obsolete.

Codes and abbreviations for U.S. states, territories, and other regions
Codes:
    ISOISO 3166 codes (2-letter, 3-letter, and 3-digit codes from ISO 3166-1; 2+2-letter codes from ISO 3166-2)
    ANSI2-letter and 2-digit codes from the ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009
    USPS2-letter codes used by the United States Postal Service
    USCG2-letter codes used by the United States Coast Guard (red text shows differences between ANSI and USCG)
Abbreviations:
    GPOOlder variable-length official US Government Printing Office abbreviations
    APAbbreviations from the AP Stylebook (red text shows differences between GPO and AP)
Name and status of region ISO ANSI USPS USCG GPO AP Other
abbreviations
 
 United States of AmericaFederal state US
USA
840		 US 00U.S.U.S.U.S.A.
 AlabamaState US-AL AL 01 AL ALAla.Ala.
 AlaskaState US-AK AK 02 AK AKAlaskaAlaskaAlas.
 ArizonaState US-AZ AZ 04 AZ AZAriz.Ariz.Az.
 ArkansasState US-AR AR 05 AR ARArk.Ark.
 CaliforniaState US-CA CA 06 CA CFCalif.Calif.Ca., Cal.
 ColoradoState US-CO CO 08 CO CLColo.Colo.Col.
 ConnecticutState US-CT CT 09 CT CTConn.Conn.Ct.
 DelawareState US-DE DE 10 DE DLDel.Del.De.
 District of ColumbiaFederal district US-DC DC 11 DC DCD.C.D.C.Wash. D.C.
 FloridaState US-FL FL 12 FL FLFla.Fla.Fl., Flor.
 GeorgiaState US-GA GA 13 GA GAGa.Ga.Geo.
 HawaiiState US-HI HI 15 HI HAHawaiiHawaiiH.I.
 IdahoState US-ID ID 16 ID IDIdahoIdahoId., Ida.
 IllinoisState US-IL IL 17 IL ILIll.Ill.Il., Ills., Ill's
 IndianaState US-IN IN 18 IN INInd.Ind.In.
 IowaState US-IA IA 19 IA IAIowaIowaIa., Ioa.[lower-alpha 1]
 KansasState US-KS KS 20 KS KAKans.Kan.Ks., Ka.
 KentuckyState (Commonwealth) US-KY KY 21 KY KYKy.Ky.Ken., Kent.[lower-alpha 2]
 LouisianaState US-LA LA 22 LA LALa.La.
 MaineState US-ME ME 23 ME MEMaineMaineMe.
 MarylandState US-MD MD 24 MD MDMd.Md.
 MassachusettsState (Commonwealth) US-MA MA 25 MA MSMass.Mass.
 MichiganState US-MI MI 26 MI MCMich.Mich.
 MinnesotaState US-MN MN 27 MN MNMinn.Minn.Mn.
 MississippiState US-MS MS 28 MS MIMiss.Miss.
 MissouriState US-MO MO 29 MO MOMo.Mo.
 MontanaState US-MT MT 30 MT MTMont.Mont.
 NebraskaState US-NE NE 31 NE NBNebr.Neb.
 NevadaState US-NV NV 32 NV NVNev.Nev.Nv.
 New HampshireState US-NH NH 33 NH NHN.H.N.H.
 New JerseyState US-NJ NJ 34 NJ NJN.J.N.J.N.Jersey
 New MexicoState US-NM NM 35 NM NMN. Mex.N.M.New M.
 New YorkState US-NY NY 36 NY NYN.Y.N.Y.N. York
 North CarolinaState US-NC NC 37 NC NCN.C.N.C.N. Car.
  North DakotaState US-ND ND 38 ND NDN. Dak.N.D.NoDak
 OhioState US-OH OH 39 OH OHOhioOhioO., Oh.
 OklahomaState US-OK OK 40 OK OKOkla.Okla.Ok.
 OregonState US-OR OR 41 OR OROreg.Ore.Or.
 PennsylvaniaState (Commonwealth) US-PA PA 42 PA PAPa.Pa.Penn., Penna.
 Rhode IslandState US-RI RI 44 RI RIR.I.R.I.R.I. & P.P., R. Isl.
 South CarolinaState US-SC SC 45 SC SCS.C.S.C.S. Car.
 South DakotaState US-SD SD 46 SD SDS. Dak.S.D.SoDak
 TennesseeState US-TN TN 47 TN TNTenn.Tenn.
 TexasState US-TX TX 48 TX TXTex.TexasTx.
 UtahState US-UT UT 49 UT UTUtahUtahUt.
 VermontState US-VT VT 50 VT VTVt.Vt.
 VirginiaState (Commonwealth) US-VA VA 51 VA VAVa.Va.Virg.
 WashingtonState US-WA WA 53 WA WNWash.Wash.Wa., Wn.[1]
 West VirginiaState US-WV WV 54 WV WVW. Va.W.Va.W.V., W. Virg.
 WisconsinState US-WI WI 55 WI WSWis.Wis.Wi., Wisc.
 WyomingState US-WY WY 56 WY WYWyo.Wyo.Wy.
 American SamoaInsular area (Territory) AS
ASM
016
US-AS		 AS 60 AS ASA.S.
 GuamInsular area (Territory) GU
GUM
316
US-GU		 GU 66 GU GUGuam
 Northern Mariana IslandsInsular area (Commonwealth) MP
MNP
580
US-MP		 MP 69 MP CMM.P.CNMI[2]
 Puerto RicoInsular area (Territory) PR
PRI
630
US-PR		 PR 72 PR PRP.R.
 U.S. Virgin IslandsInsular area (Territory) VI
VIR
850
US-VI		 VI 78 VI VIV.I.U.S.V.I.
U.S. Minor Outlying IslandsInsular areas UM
UMI
581
US-UM		 UM 74
   Baker Island   island UM-81 81XB[3]
   Howland Island   island UM-84 84XH[3]
   Jarvis Island   island UM-86 86XQ[3]
   Johnston Atoll   atoll UM-67 67XU[3]
   Kingman Reef   atoll UM-89 89XM[3]
   Midway Islands   atoll UM-71 71QM[3]
   Navassa Island   island UM-76 76XV[3]
   Palmyra Atoll[lower-alpha 3]   atoll[lower-alpha 3] UM-95 95XL[3]
   Wake Island   atoll UM-79 79QW[3]
 MicronesiaFreely associated state FM
FSM
583		 FM 64 FM
 Marshall IslandsFreely associated state MH
MHL
584		 MH 68 MH
 PalauFreely associated state PW
PLW
585		 PW 70 PW
U.S. Armed Forces – Americas[lower-alpha 4]US military mail code AA
U.S. Armed Forces – Europe[lower-alpha 5]US military mail code AE
U.S. Armed Forces – Pacific[lower-alpha 6]US military mail code AP
 Northern Mariana IslandsObsolete postal code[lower-alpha 7] CM
Panama Canal ZonePanama Canal ZoneObsolete postal code PZ
PCZ
594		 CZ
 NebraskaObsolete postal code[lower-alpha 8] NB
Commonwealth of the PhilippinesPhilippine IslandsObsolete postal code PH
PHL
608[4]		 PI
Trust Territory of the Pacific IslandsTrust Territory of the Pacific IslandsObsolete postal code PC
PCI
582		 TT

History

As early as October 1831, the United States Post Office recognized common abbreviations for states and territories. However, they only accepted these abbreviations because of their popularity, preferring that patrons spell names out in full to avoid confusion.[5]

The traditional abbreviations for U.S. states and territories, widely used in mailing addresses prior to the introduction of two-letter U.S. postal abbreviations, are still commonly used for other purposes (such as legal citation), and are still recognized (though discouraged) by the Postal Service.[6]

Modern two-letter abbreviated codes for the states and territories originated in October 1963, with the issuance of Publication 59: Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Code, three months after the Post Office introduced ZIP codes in July 1963. The purpose, rather than to standardize state abbreviations per se, was to make room in a line of no more than 23 characters for the city, the state, and the ZIP code.[5]

Since 1963, only one state abbreviation has changed. Originally Nebraska was "NB"; but, in November 1969, the Post Office changed it to "NE" to avoid confusion with New Brunswick in Canada.[5]

The two-letter postal abbreviation system is complicated by the fact that several state names begin with the same letter (e.g., eight state names begin with M and eight begin with N, four "New" and two "North"). To avoid duplications, some abbreviations are not intuitive.

Prior to 1987, when the U.S. Secretary of Commerce approved the two-letter codes for use in government documents,[7] the United States Government Printing Office (GPO) suggested its own set of abbreviations, with some states left unabbreviated. Today, the GPO supports United States Postal Service standard.[8]

Current use of traditional abbreviations

The Associated Press Stylebook, the usage guide for most United States newspapers, counsels the use of abbreviations for most state names, when appended to a city name (for example, "Santa Ana, Calif."). AP suggests spelling out the names of Alaska, Hawaii, and all states with five or fewer letters; and, unlike the old GPO recommendations, AP suggests spelling out the names of all non-state territories, with the exception of the District of Columbia (D.C.). Legal citation manuals, such as The Bluebook and The ALWD Citation Manual, typically use these "traditional abbreviations" or variants thereof.

Codes for states and territories

ISO standard 3166

ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established alphabetic and numeric codes for each state and outlying areas in ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009. ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009 replaced the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) standards FIPS 5-2, FIPS 6-4, and FIPS 10-4. The ANSI alphabetic state code is the same as the USPS state code except for U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, which have an ANSI code "UM" but no USPS code—and U.S. Military Mail locations, which have USPS codes ("AA", "AE", "AP") but no ANSI code.

Postal codes

WashingtonOregonCaliforniaHawaiiAlaskaIdahoVermontNew HampshireMassachusettsRhode IslandConnecticutNew JerseyDelawareMarylandD.C.MontanaNorth DakotaSouth DakotaNevadaUtahArizonaWyomingColoradoNew MexicoNebraskaKansasOklahomaTexasMinnesotaIowaMissouriArkansasLouisianaMichiganWisconsinIllinoisIndianaOhioWest VirginiaKentuckyTennesseeMississippiAlabamaGeorgiaFloridaSouth CarolinaNorth CarolinaVirginiaMarylandMarylandDistrict of ColumbiaDelawareNew YorkPennsylvaniaNew JerseyConnecticutRhode IslandMassachusettsNew HampshireVermontMaineUS state abbrev map.png
About this image

The United States Postal Service has established a set of uppercase abbreviations to help process mail with optical character recognition and other automated equipment.[9] There are also official USPS abbreviations for other parts of the address, such as street designators (street, avenue, road, etc.).

These postal abbreviations are distinguished from traditional abbreviations such as Calif., Fla., or Tex. The Associated Press Stylebook states that in contexts other than mailing addresses, the traditional state abbreviations should be used.[10] However, the Chicago Manual of Style now recommends use of the uppercase two-letter abbreviations, with the traditional forms as an option.[11]

The postal abbreviation is the same as the ISO 3166-2 subdivision code for each of the fifty states.

These codes do not overlap with the 13 Canadian subnational postal abbreviations. The code for Nebraska changed from NB to NE in November 1969 to avoid a conflict with New Brunswick.[5] Canada likewise chose MB for Manitoba to prevent conflict with various U.S. states.

Coast Guard vessel prefixes

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) uses a set of two-letter prefixes for vessel numbers;[12] 39 states and the District of Columbia have the same USPS and USCG abbreviations. USCG prefixes have also been established for five outlying territories; all are the same as the USPS abbreviations except the Mariana Islands. The twelve cases where USPS and USCG abbreviations differ are listed below and marked in red in the table above.

Mis-matches between USPS and USCG codes
California Colorado Delaware Hawaii Kansas Michigan Mississippi Massachusetts Nebraska Washington Wisconsin Mariana Islands
USPS CA CO DE HI KS MI MS MA NE WA WI MP
USCG CF CL DL HA KA MC MI MS NB WN WS CM

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Ioa." or (more typically) "IOA" found in Iowa post office cancellations from the 1870s.
  2. ↑ Not to be confused with Kent, England
  3. 1 2 The Palmyra Atoll is an unorganized incorporated territory of the United States that was previously a part of the Territory of Hawaii.
  4. ↑ The U.S. Armed Forces – Americas include the Caribbean Sea and exclude the United States, Canada, and Greenland.
  5. ↑ The U.S. Armed Forces – Europe include the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, Canada, Greenland, Africa, and Southwest Asia.
  6. ↑ The U.S. Armed Forces – Pacific include the Indian Ocean, Oceania, and Asia except Southwest Asia.
  7. ↑ Former USPS code "CM" for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is now obsolete; it was changed to MP in 1988 to match ISO 3166-1.
  8. ↑ Former USPS code "NB" for Nebraska is now obsolete; it was changed to NE in November 1969 to avoid confusion with New Brunswick, Canada.

References

  1. ↑ "search on WN". Digitum.washingtonhistory.org. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  2. ↑ "Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands". www.doi.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes Standard". NSG Standards Registry. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  4. ↑ "Philippine diplomats will now use PH or PHL instead of RP". GMA News. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 USPS Postal History: State Abbreviations Accessed November 7, 2011.
  6. ↑ "USPS Postal News, "It's Okay to Say 'I Don't Know,' So Long As You Find Out!" January 9, 2009". About.usps.com. 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  7. ↑ Hawes, Kristi G. (1987-05-28). "Information Technology Laboratory". NIST. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  8. ↑ U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual, 30th Edition Accessed April 21, 2009.
  9. ↑ United States Postal Service Publication 28 - Postal Addressing Standards. Accessed February 4, 2007.
  10. ↑ State Abbreviations
  11. ↑ Major Rule Changes in The Chicago Manual of Style, Fifteenth Edition Accessed May 23, 2009
  12. ↑ 33 C.F.R. 173, App. A
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