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. Copyright© 2020 USPS. %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz��������������������������������������������������������������������������� The U.S. Armed Forces – Americas include the, The U.S. Armed Forces – Europe include the, The U.S. Armed Forces – Pacific include the, U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual, 30th Edition, List of states and territories of the United States, Canadian subnational postal abbreviations, United State Postal Service address formatting information, "Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands", "Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes Standard", "Philippine diplomats will now use PH or PHL instead of RP", "USPS Postal News, "It's Okay to Say 'I Don't Know,' So Long As You Find Out!" 6 0 obj To avoid duplications, some abbreviations are not intuitive. ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009 replaced the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) standards FIPS 5-2, FIPS 6-4, and FIPS 10-4. US State Postal Abbreviations List. Appendix B Two–Letter State and Possession Abbreviations. As early as October 1831, the United States Post Office recognized common abbreviations for states and territories. ���� Adobe d �� C 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. These codes do not overlap with the 13 Canadian subnational postal abbreviations. To make room for the ZIP Code, state names needed to be abbreviated. 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"). Since the Postal Service instituted ZIP codes and their accompanying state postal codes in 1963, the two-letter abbreviations have steadily gained popularity. USCG prefixes have also been established for five outlying territories; all are the same as the USPS abbreviations except the Mariana Islands. [12] There are also official USPS abbreviations for other parts of the address, such as street designators (street, avenue, road, etc.). /Filter /DCTDecode Sources: 1831, Table of Post Offices in the United States; 1874 and 1943, United States Official Postal Guide; 6/1963, Postal Bulletin 20368; 10/1963, Post Office Department Publication 59, Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Code. %PDF-1.5 The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established alphabetic and numeric codes for each state and outlying areas in ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009. … 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. /Height 561 �� � } !1AQa"q2���#B��R��$3br� These two-letter codes are distinguished from traditional abbreviations such as Calif., Fla., or Tex. The twelve cases where USPS and USCG abbreviations differ are listed below and marked in bold red in the table above. The postal abbreviation is the same as the ISO 3166-2 subdivision code for each of the fifty states. [3] Canada likewise chose MB for Manitoba to prevent conflict with either Massachusetts (MA), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Missouri (MO), or Montana (MT). A list of state abbreviations since 1831 is provided below. [3], 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. Postmaster General & Executive Leadership Team. "Ioa." ...................................................�� 1>" �� HISTORIAN UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE MAY 2019. Originally Nebraska was "NB"; but, in November 1969, the Post Office changed it to "NE" to avoid confusion with New Brunswick in Canada.[3]. /BitsPerComponent 8 Learn the state abbreviations and postal codes. /Subtype /Image �� � w !1AQaq"2�B���� #3R�br� Or, if you're feeling confident, try our postal codes quiz. Previously, the Post Office Department preferred that state names be written in full, to avoid confusion. All Rights Reserved. Though it is usually preferable to write out the full name, space constraints often require use of an abbreviation. Today, the GPO supports United States Postal Service standard.[11]. Publication 28 - Postal Addressing Standards - Appendix B - Two–Letter State and Possession Abbreviations. [3], Since 1963, only one state abbreviation has changed. So, New Hampshire is shortened as NH … Use the abbreviations below when addressing mail. Since that time, only one change has been made: in 1969, at the request of the Canadian postal administration, the abbreviation for Nebraska, originally NB, was changed to NE, to avoid confusion with New Brunswick in Canada. ��`�V��7z�{`�c���m�F�;��R�v�M /Width 1598 /Length 115995 [9], 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 U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) uses a set of two-letter prefixes for vessel numbers;[15] 39 states and the District of Columbia have the same USPS and USCG abbreviations. States Official Postal Guide; 6/1963, Postal Bulletin 20368; 10/1963, Post Office Department Publication 59, Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Code. %���� The United States Postal Service (USPS) has established a set of uppercase abbreviations to help process mail with optical character recognition and other automated equipment. A more complete list of current abbreviations, including all U.S. possessions, is available online at https://pe.usps.com/text/pub28/28apb.htm. /Type /XObject or (more typically) "IOA" found in Iowa post office cancellations from the 1870s. On July 1, 1963, the Post Office Department introduced the five-digit ZIP Code. Prior to 1987, when the U.S. Secretary of Commerce approved the two-letter codes for use in government documents,[10] the United States Government Printing Office (GPO) suggested its own set of abbreviations, with some states left unabbreviated. At the time, most addressing equipment could accommodate only 23 characters (including spaces) in the bottom line of the address. Postal Abbreviations for States/Territories. 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. Promoting ZIP Codes in New York City, 1966 the ZIP Code in the last line of an address, state names needed to be abbreviated. ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009 replaced the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) standards FIPS 5-2, FIPS 6-4, and FIPS 10-4. January 9, 2009". These official state abbreviations have all been standardized by the United States Postal Service. stream Legal citation manuals, such as The Bluebook and The ALWD Citation Manual, typically use the "traditional abbreviations" or variants thereof. The Associated Press Stylebook states that in contexts other than mailing addresses, the traditional state abbreviations should be used. /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB Major Rule Changes in The Chicago Manual of Style, Fifteenth Edition, Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service, National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, Postage stamps and postal history of the United States, USPS Post Office Box Lobby Recycling program, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_U.S._state_and_territory_abbreviations&oldid=985601087, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 October 2020, at 21:19. The code for Nebraska changed from NB to NE in November 1969 to avoid a conflict with New Brunswick. See … ?��g���S���|��k�A�g�PE�wsUG9���7�|�p ��� &',+J�eFk:!���qB�@m8�Xғ��lO����Y3�.L`������c. Hang it next to your desk, and you'll never again confuse the postal code AL for Alaska instead of Alabama! Sources: 1831, Table of Post Offices in the United States; 1874 and 1943, United States Official Postal Guide; 6/1963, Postal Bulletin 20368; 10/1963, Post Office Department Publication 59, Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Code.. The Department provided an initial list of abbreviations in June 1963, but many had three or four letters, which was still too long. ! Promoting ZIP Codes in New York City, 1966 To allow space for the ZIP Code in the last line of an address, state names needed to be abbreviated. >> ZIP Code 52240: Iowa City: Johnson: Standard: ZIP Code 52241: Coralville: Johnson: Standard: ZIP Code 52242: Iowa City: Johnson: Standard: ZIP Code 52243: Iowa City: Johnson: Unique: ZIP Code 52244: Iowa City: Johnson: P.O. $4�%�&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz�������������������������������������������������������������������������� ? The ANSI alphabetic state code is the same as the USPS state code except for U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, which have an ANSI code "UM" but no USPS code—and U.S. Military Mail locations, which have USPS codes ("A… Promoting ZIP Codes in New York City, 1966 To allow space for the ZIP Code in the last line of an address, state names needed to be abbreviated. List of state abbreviations for the US states, US territories and the United States military. *$( %2%(,-/0/#484.7*./.�� C However, they only accepted these abbreviations because of their popularity, preferring that patrons spell names out in full to avoid confusion. State abbreviations are all two letters, and these two letters are always capitalized without any periods. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established alphabetic and numeric codes for each state and outlying areas in ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009. �(#�9��$�T#� ����l�FsV�6�@��� �{$�)ub����@�$���X�����@��+����9�h*#"c� :f��Ƀ���@s ��tP��8��F\����r�NyO����(3����fx� 8��S� �r8��F�;! [13] However, the Chicago Manual of Style now recommends use of the uppercase two-letter abbreviations, with the traditional forms as an option.[14]. (bold red text shows differences between ANSI and USCG), (bold red text shows differences between GPO and AP). << In October 1963, the Department settled on the current two-letter abbreviations. Box: ZIP Code 52245: Iowa City: Johnson: Standard: ZIP Code 52246: Iowa City: Johnson: Standard: ZIP Code 52247: Kalona: Washington: Standard: ZIP Code 52248: Keota: Keokuk: … This table is a handy tool for students, business people, and letter-writers alike.