List of U.S. state and territory abbreviations

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

Table

This table has abbreviations for three independent countries related to the United States through Compacts of Free Association, and other comparable postal abbreviations, including those not used anymore.

+ Codes and abbreviations for U.S. states, federal district, territories, and other regions Codes: ISO   ISO 3166 codes (2-letter, 3-letter, and 3-digit codes from ISO 3166-1; 2+2-letter codes from ISO 3166-2) ANSI  2-letter and 2-digit codes from the ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009 (replaces FIPS 5-2) USPS  2-letter codes used by the United States Postal Service USCG  2-letter codes used by the United States Coast Guard  Abbreviations: GPO   Older changing-length official US Government Printing Office abbreviations AP    Abbreviations from the AP Stylebook  Name and status of regionISO ANSIUSPSUSCG GPO AP Otherabbreviations        United States of AmericaFederal stateUS00  U.S.U.S.U.S.A.AlabamaStateAL01ALALAla.Ala.AlaskaStateAK02AKAKAlaskaAlaskaAk.ArizonaStateAZ04AZAZAriz.Ariz.ArkansasStateAR05ARARArk.Ark.CaliforniaStateCA06CACFCalif.Calif.Cal.ColoradoStateCO08COCLColo.Colo.ConnecticutStateCT09CTCTConn.Conn.DelawareStateDE10DEDLDel.Del.District of ColumbiaFederal districtDC11DCDCD.C.D.C.Dis. Col.FloridaStateFL12FLFLFla.Fla.GeorgiaStateGA13GAGAGa.Ga.Geo.HawaiiStateHI15HIHAHawaiiHawaiiHi.; Haw.IdahoStateID16IDIDIdahoIdahoIda.IllinoisStateIL17ILILIll.Ill.IndianaStateIN18ININInd.Ind.IowaStateIA19IAIAIowaIowaIoa.KansasStateKS20KSKAKans.Kan.Ka.KentuckyStateKY21KYKYKy.Ky.Ken., Kent.LouisianaStateLA22LALALa.La.MaineStateME23MEMEMaineMaineMarylandStateMD24MDMDMd.Md.Mar., Mary.MassachusettsStateMA25MAMSMass.Mass.MichiganStateMI26MIMCMich.Mich.MinnesotaStateMN27MNMNMinn.Minn.MississippiStateMS28MSMIMiss.Miss.MissouriStateMO29MOMOMo.Mo.MontanaStateMT30MTMTMont.Mont.NebraskaStateNE31NENBNebr.Neb.NevadaStateNV32NVNVNev.Nev.New HampshireStateNH33NHNHN.H.N.H.New JerseyStateNJ34NJNJN.J.N.J.N. JerseyNew MexicoStateNM35NMNMN. Mex. N.M.New M., New Mex.New YorkStateNY36NYNYN.Y.N.Y.N. YorkNorth CarolinaStateNC37NCNCN.C.N.C.N. Car.North DakotaStateND38NDNDN. Dak.N.D.OhioStateOH39OHOHOhioOhioO.,USPS Postal History: State Abbreviations  Accessed November 7, 2011. Oh.OklahomaStateOK40OKOKOkla.Okla.OregonStateOR41OROROreg.Ore.PennsylvaniaStatePA42PAPAPa.Pa.Penn., Penna.Rhode IslandStateRI44RIRIR.I.R.I.R.I. & P.P.South CarolinaStateSC45SCSCS.C.S.C.S. Car.South DakotaStateSD46SDSDS. Dak.S.D.SoDakTennesseeStateTN47TNTNTenn.Tenn.TexasStateTX48TXTXTex.TexasUtahStateUT49UTUTUtahUtahUt.VermontStateVT50VTVTVt.Vt.Verm.VirginiaStateVA51VAVAVa.Va.Virg.WashingtonStateWA53WAWNWash.Wash.Wn.West VirginiaStateWV54WVWVW. Va.W.Va.W.V., W. Virg.WisconsinStateWI55WIWSWis.Wis.Wisc.WyomingStateWY56WYWYWyo.Wyo.American SamoaInsular area (Territory)AS60ASASA.S. GuamInsular area (Territory)GU66GUGUGuam Northern Mariana IslandsInsular area (Commonwealth)MP69MPCMM.P. CNMIPuerto RicoInsular area (Commonwealth)PR72PRPRP.R. U.S. Virgin IslandsInsular area (Territory)VI78VIVIV.I. U.S.V.I.U.S. Minor Outlying IslandsInsular areasUM74UM   Baker IslandIsland 81   XB Howland IslandIsland 84   XH Jarvis IslandIsland 86   XQ Johnston AtollAtoll 67   XU Kingman ReefAtoll 89   XMMidway IslandsAtoll 71   QM Navassa IslandIsland 76   XV Palmyra AtollAtoll 95   XL Wake IslandAtoll 79   QWMarshall IslandsFreely associated stateMH68MH  MicronesiaFreely associated stateFM64FM  PalauFreely associated statePW70PW  U.S. Armed Forces – AmericasUS military mail code   AA  U.S. Armed Forces – EuropeUS military mail code   AE  U.S. Armed Forces – PacificUS military mail code   AP   NebraskaOld postal code   NB   Northern Mariana IslandsOld postal code   CM   Panama Canal ZoneOld postal code  CZ   Philippine IslandsOld postal code   PI   Trust Territory of the Pacific IslandsOld postal code  TT   

History
As early as October 1831, the United States Post Office recognized common abbreviations for states and territories. However, they accepted these abbreviations only because of their popularity, recommending that people spell names out fully to avoid confusion.

The traditional abbreviations for U.S. states and territories, widely used in mailing addresses before the start of two-letter U.S. postal abbreviations, are still regularly used for other purposes (such as legal citation), and are still recognized (though discouraged) by the Postal Service.

Modern two-letter abbreviated codes for the states and territories began 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 was to make room in a line of no more than 23 characters for the city, state, and the ZIP code.

After 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.

Prior to 1987, when the U.S. Secretary of Commerce allowed the two-letter codes for use in government items, 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.U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual, 30th Edition  Accessed April 21, 2009.

Current use of traditional abbreviations

Legal citation manuals, such as The Bluebook and The ALWD Citation Manual, usually use the "traditional abbreviations" or other abbreviations.

Codes for states and territories

ISO standard 3166

ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established ordered by letter and ordered by number 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 ordered by letter 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

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

These two-letter codes are different from traditional abbreviations such as Calif., Fla., or Tex. The Associated Press Stylebook says that in situations other than mailing addresses, the traditional state abbreviations should be used. However, the Chicago Manual of Style now recommends the use of the uppercase two-letter abbreviations, with the traditional forms as an option.

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. Canada likewise chose MB for Manitoba to prevent conflict with either Massachusetts (MA), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Missouri (MO), or Montana (MT).

Coast Guard vessel prefixes
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) uses a set of two-letter prefixes for vessel numbers;, App. A 39 states and the District of Columbia have the same USPS and USCG abbreviations. USCG prefixes have also been made for five outlying territories; all are the same as the USPS abbreviations except the Mariana Islands. The twelve cases where USPS and USCG abbreviations are different are listed below and marked in bold red in the table above; they include three inland states with a small Coast Guard group. These twelve abbreviations were changed to avoid conflicting with the ISO 3166 two-digit country codes.

+ Mismatches 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

Related pages
 Australian abbreviation system
 Canadian abbreviation system
 ISO 3166-2:US
 United States Postal Service address formatting information

Notes

 References 

 Other websites 
 USPS acronyms and abbreviations
 U.S. Census Bureau

Category:United States