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.

Legend of column headers:

ISO
ISO 3166 codes. 2-letter, 3-letter and 3-digit codes are from ISO 3166-1; 2+2-letter codes are from ISO 3166-2.
ANSI
2-letter and 2-digit codes from the ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009
USPS
2-letter codes used by the United States Postal Service
USCG
2-letter codes used by the United States Coast Guard
Old GPO
Official, older, variable length US Government abbreviations
AP
Abbreviations are from the AP Stylebook
Region Codes Abbreviations
Name Status ISO ANSI ANSI USPS USCG Old GPO AP Other
 United States of AmericaFederal stateUS
USA
840
US00 U.S.U.S.U.S.A.
 AlabamaStateUS-ALAL01ALALAla.Ala.
 AlaskaStateUS-AKAK02AKAKAlaskaAlaskaAlas.
 ArizonaStateUS-AZAZ04AZAZAriz.Ariz.Az.
 ArkansasStateUS-ARAR05ARARArk.Ark.
 CaliforniaStateUS-CACA06CACFCalif.Calif.Ca., Cal.
 ColoradoStateUS-COCO08COCLColo.Colo.Col.
 ConnecticutStateUS-CTCT09CTCTConn.Conn.Ct.
 DelawareStateUS-DEDE10DEDLDel.Del.De.
 District of ColumbiaFederal districtUS-DCDC11DCDCD.C.D.C.Wash. D.C.
 FloridaStateUS-FLFL12FLFLFla.Fla.Fl., Flor.
 GeorgiaStateUS-GAGA13GAGAGa.Ga.
 HawaiiStateUS-HIHI15HIHAHawaiiHawaiiH.I.
 IdahoStateUS-IDID16IDIDIdahoIdahoId., Ida.
 IllinoisStateUS-ILIL17ILILIll.Ill.Il., Ills., Ill's
 IndianaStateUS-ININ18ININInd.Ind.In.
 IowaStateUS-IAIA19IAIAIowaIowaIa., Ioa.[1]
 KansasStateUS-KSKS20KSKAKans.Kan.Ks., Ka.
 KentuckyState (Commonwealth)US-KYKY21KYKYKy.Ky.Ken., Kent.
 LouisianaStateUS-LALA22LALALa.La.
 MaineStateUS-MEME23MEMEMaineMaineMe.
 MarylandStateUS-MDMD24MDMDMd.Md.
 MassachusettsState (Commonwealth)US-MAMA25MAMSMass.Mass.
 MichiganStateUS-MIMI26MIMCMich.Mich.
 MinnesotaStateUS-MNMN27MNMNMinn.Minn.Mn.
 MississippiStateUS-MSMS28MSMIMiss.Miss.
 MissouriStateUS-MOMO29MOMOMo.Mo.
 MontanaStateUS-MTMT30MTMTMont.Mont.
 NebraskaStateUS-NENE31NENBNebr.Neb.
 NevadaStateUS-NVNV32NVNVNev.Nev.Nv.
 New HampshireStateUS-NHNH33NHNHN.H.N.H.
 New JerseyStateUS-NJNJ34NJNJN.J.N.J.
 New MexicoStateUS-NMNM35NMNMN. Mex.N.M.New M.
 New YorkStateUS-NYNY36NYNYN.Y.N.Y.N. York
 North CarolinaStateUS-NCNC37NCNCN.C.N.C.N. Car.
  North DakotaStateUS-NDND38NDNDN. Dak.N.D.NoDak
 OhioStateUS-OHOH39OHOHOhioOhioO., Oh.
 OklahomaStateUS-OKOK40OKOKOkla.Okla.Ok.
 OregonStateUS-OROR41OROROreg.Ore.Or.
 PennsylvaniaState (Commonwealth)US-PAPA42PAPAPa.Pa.Penn., Penna.
 Rhode IslandStateUS-RIRI44RIRIR.I.R.I.R.I. & P.P., R. Isl.
 South CarolinaStateUS-SCSC45SCSCS.C.S.C.S. Car.
 South DakotaStateUS-SDSD46SDSDS. Dak.S.D.SoDak
 TennesseeStateUS-TNTN47TNTNTenn.Tenn.
 TexasStateUS-TXTX48TXTXTex.TexasTx.
 UtahStateUS-UTUT49UTUTUtahUtahUt.
 VermontStateUS-VTVT50VTVTVt.Vt.
 VirginiaState (Commonwealth)US-VAVA51VAVAVa.Va.Virg.
 WashingtonStateUS-WAWA53WAWNWash.Wash.Wa., Wn.[2]
 West VirginiaStateUS-WVWV54WVWVW. Va.W.Va.W.V., W. Virg.
 WisconsinStateUS-WIWI55WIWSWis.Wis.Wi., Wisc.
 WyomingStateUS-WYWY56WYWYWyo.Wyo.Wy.
 American SamoaInsular area (Territory)AS
ASM
016
US-AS
AS60ASASA.S.
 GuamInsular area (Territory)GU
GUM
316
US-GU
GU66GUGUGuam
 Northern Mariana IslandsInsular area (Commonwealth)MP
MNP
580
US-MP
MP69MPCMM.P.
 Puerto RicoInsular area (Commonwealth)PR
PRI
630
US-PR
PR72PRPRP.R.
 U.S. Virgin IslandsInsular area (Territory)VI
VIR
850
US-VI
VI78VIVIV.I. U.S.V.I.
U.S. Minor Outlying IslandsInsular areasUM
UMI
581
US-UM
UM74
   Baker Island   islandUM-81 81
   Howland Island   islandUM-84 84
   Jarvis Island   islandUM-86 86
   Johnston Atoll   atollUM-67 67
   Kingman Reef   atollUM-89 89
   Midway Islands   atollUM-71 71
   Navassa Island   islandUM-76 76
   Palmyra Atoll[3]   atoll[3]UM-95 95
   Wake Island   atollUM-79 79
 MicronesiaFreely associated stateFM
FSM
583
FM64FM
 Marshall IslandsFreely associated stateMH
MHL
584
MH68MH
 PalauFreely associated statePW
PLW
585
PW70PW
U.S. Armed ForcesAmericas[4]US military mail code AA
U.S. Armed Forces – Europe[5]US military mail code AE
U.S. Armed Forces – Pacific[6]US military mail code AP
Northern Mariana IslandsObsolete postal code[7] CM
Panama Canal ZonePanama Canal ZoneObsolete postal codePZ
PCZ
594
CZ
NebraskaObsolete postal code[8] NB
Commonwealth of the PhilippinesPhilippine IslandsObsolete postal codePH
PHL
608
[9]
PI
Trust Territory of the Pacific IslandsTrust Territory of the Pacific IslandsObsolete postal codePC
PCI
582
TT

History

As early as October 1874, 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.[10]

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.[11]

Modern two-letter abbreviated codes for the states and territories originated when the Post Office introduced ZIP codes in 1963. The purpose was to make room for ZIP codes in the address, rather than to standardize state abbreviations per se.[10]

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.[10]

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,[12] 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.[13]

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" as well.

Codes for states and territories

ISO standard 3166

Main article: ISO 3166-2:US

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

Washington Oregon California Hawaii Alaska Idaho Vermont New Hampshire Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New Jersey Delaware Maryland D.C. Montana North Dakota South Dakota Nevada Utah Arizona Wyoming Colorado New Mexico Nebraska Kansas Oklahoma Texas Minnesota Iowa Missouri Arkansas Louisiana Michigan Wisconsin Illinois Indiana Ohio West Virginia Kentucky Tennessee Mississippi Alabama Georgia Florida South Carolina North Carolina Virginia Maryland Maryland District of Columbia Delaware New York Pennsylvania New Jersey Connecticut Rhode Island Massachusetts New Hampshire Vermont MaineUS state abbrev map.png

The United States Postal Service has established a set of uppercase abbreviations to help process mail with optical character recognition and other automated equipment.[14] 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.[15] However, the Chicago Manual of Style now recommends use of the uppercase two-letter abbreviations, with the traditional forms as an option.[16]

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.[10] 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;[17] 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

References

  1. "Ioa." or (more typically) "IOA" found in Iowa post office cancellations from the 1870s.
  2. search on WN
  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.
  9. "Philippine diplomats will now use PH or PHL instead of RP". GMA News. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 4 USPS Postal History: State Abbreviations Accessed November 7, 2011.
  11. USPS Postal News, "It's Okay to Say 'I Don't Know,' So Long As You Find Out!" January 9, 2009
  12. Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 5-2, May 28, 1987 Accessed April 21, 2009.
  13. U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual, 30th Edition Accessed April 21, 2009.
  14. United States Postal Service Publication 28 - Postal Addressing Standards. Accessed February 4, 2007.
  15. State Abbreviations
  16. Major Rule Changes in The Chicago Manual of Style, Fifteenth Edition Accessed May 23, 2009
  17. 33 C.F.R. 173, App. A

External links

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