Do you put ZIP codes in mailing addresses?

To send something with the USPS, you must put the forwarding ZIP code, two-letter state abbreviation, name, address, city, and street address. The same needs to be put for the return address.

How do I find my ZIP code?

To find your ZIP code abbreviation, go to the USPS website. You can search by mailing addresses, city, state, or cities by zip code to see if it covers.

Do all US States have abbreviations?

Most of the 50 states have conventional abbreviations; however, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah don't have standard abbreviations. This is because they are states with five or fewer letters or are non-contiguous states.

How did American states get abbreviations?

The USPS introduced the two-letter standard abbreviation to ensure that mail got where it needed to go. Before this, states were abbreviated with various numbers and letters, which wasn’t standardized. Now, these two-letter state abbreviations are commonly used.

Why did the US stop abbreviating state names with periods between letters?

The United States stopped placing periods between abbreviated state names in the mid-20th century because of space, style, and standardization.

What is the two letter symbol for Nebraska?

The two letter abbreviation for Nebraska is NE. In 1969, the Canadian postal administration influenced UPS to change it from NB (the original) to NE because it was confused with the Canadian abbreviation for New Brunswick in Canada.

Technology has undoubtedly made communicating with our loved ones easier; you no longer need a big old book of forward mailing addresses like your grandma used to have. However, there are still times when you need to know the U.S. states standard state abbreviations and codes, especially if you want to get in touch with people the old-fashioned way - by letter. With that in mind, here's the complete A-Z list of the 50 U.S. states' abbreviations and letter codes, so you can be sure they will get to the right place, and a state abbreviation quiz, so you can test your knowledge!

Using Postal Abbreviations vs. US Traditional State Abbreviations

What’s the difference between postal abbreviations and traditional US abbreviations? Postal and traditional US abbreviations refer to ways of abbreviating the names of the 50 states in the United States. Still, the two have a few key differences:

Formatting

Postal abbreviations consist of two uppercase letters without periods. In contrast, traditional US abbreviations typically consist of a capitalized first letter followed by a lowercase second letter (e.g., "Calif." for California versus "CA" for California).

Usage

Postal abbreviations are primarily used in mailing addresses, while traditional US abbreviations are used more formally, including in academic writing and depending on different style guides.

Consistency

Postal abbreviations were standardized by the United States Postal Service (USPS) in the 1960s, so there is a consistent set of abbreviations that are recognized and used nationwide. Traditional US abbreviations, on the other hand, can change depending on the source.

Overall, postal and traditional US abbreviations serve similar purposes but have some important differences in format, usage, and consistency. So, below is the complete list of U.S. state abbreviations and codes from A-Z for your reference.

Complete List of U.S. States Abbreviations & Codes

Regardless of what you're using this list for, here is the complete catalog for you to browse all 50 US state postal abbreviations and their traditional counterparts. The postal abbreviations are the official current state standard abbreviations standardized by the United States Postal Service (USPS.)

A-G From the Arkansas Abbreviation to the Two-letter Postal Codes for Georgia

Looking for the postal abbreviation and traditional abbreviations for the US states from A-G?

Name of U.S. State	Postal Abbrev.	Traditional Abbreviation
Name of U.S. State Alabama	Postal Abbrev. AL	Traditional Abbreviation Ala.
Name of U.S. State Alaska	Postal Abbrev. AK	Traditional Abbreviation Alaska
Name of U.S. State Arizona	Postal Abbrev. AZ	Traditional Abbreviation Ariz.
Name of U.S. State Arkansas	Postal Abbrev. AR	Traditional Abbreviation Ark.
Name of U.S. State California	Postal Abbrev. CA	Traditional Abbreviation Calif.
Name of U.S. State Colorado	Postal Abbrev. CO	Traditional Abbreviation Colo.
Name of U.S. State Connecticut	Postal Abbrev. CT	Traditional Abbreviation Conn.
Name of U.S. State Delaware	Postal Abbrev. DE	Traditional Abbreviation Del.
Name of U.S. State Florida	Postal Abbrev. FL	Traditional Abbreviation Fla.
Name of U.S. State Georgia	Postal Abbrev. GA	Traditional Abbreviation Ga.

H-M Process Mail from Hawaii to the Maryland Abbreviation

All the abbreviations for the US states that start with H to M.

Name of U.S. State	Postal Abbrev.	Traditional Abbreviation
Name of U.S. State Hawaii	Postal Abbrev. HI	Traditional Abbreviation Hawaii
Name of U.S. State Idaho	Postal Abbrev. ID	Traditional Abbreviation Idaho
Name of U.S. State Illinois	Postal Abbrev. IL	Traditional Abbreviation Ill.
Name of U.S. State Indiana	Postal Abbrev. IN	Traditional Abbreviation Ind.
Name of U.S. State Iowa	Postal Abbrev. IA	Traditional Abbreviation Iowa
Name of U.S. State Kansas	Postal Abbrev. KS	Traditional Abbreviation Kans.
Name of U.S. State Kentucky	Postal Abbrev. KY	Traditional Abbreviation Ky.
Name of U.S. State Louisiana	Postal Abbrev. LA	Traditional Abbreviation La.
Name of U.S. State Maine	Postal Abbrev. ME	Traditional Abbreviation Maine
Name of U.S. State Maryland	Postal Abbrev. MD	Traditional Abbreviation Md.

State abbreviations Quiz

Can you remember the state abbreviations for US states A-M? Test our your knowledge here.

M-N All the M Mailing Addresses from Massachusetts to New Mexico

What’s the Missouri abbreviation? List of abbreviations for M-N.

Name of U.S. State	Postal Abbrev	Traditional Abbreviation
Name of U.S. State Massachusetts	Postal Abbrev MA	Traditional Abbreviation Mass.
Name of U.S. State Michigan	Postal Abbrev MI	Traditional Abbreviation Mich.
Name of U.S. State Minnesota	Postal Abbrev MN	Traditional Abbreviation Minn.
Name of U.S. State Mississippi	Postal Abbrev MS	Traditional Abbreviation Miss.
Name of U.S. State Missouri	Postal Abbrev MO	Traditional Abbreviation Mo.
Name of U.S. State Montana	Postal Abbrev MT	Traditional Abbreviation Mont.
Name of U.S. State Nebraska	Postal Abbrev NE	Traditional Abbreviation Neb. or Nebr.
Name of U.S. State Nevada	Postal Abbrev NV	Traditional Abbreviation Nev.
Name of U.S. State New Hampshire	Postal Abbrev NH	Traditional Abbreviation N.H.
Name of U.S. State New Jersey	Postal Abbrev NJ	Traditional Abbreviation N.J.
Name of U.S. State New Mexico	Postal Abbrev NM	Traditional Abbreviation N.Mex.

N-S Uppercase Abbreviations for U.S. States NY to South Dakota

List of abbreviations from the Empire State to The Mount Rushmore State.

Name of U.S. State	Postal Abbrev	Traditional Abbreviation
Name of U.S. State New York	Postal Abbrev NY	Traditional Abbreviation N.Y.
Name of U.S. State North Carolina	Postal Abbrev NC	Traditional Abbreviation N.C.
Name of U.S. State North Dakota	Postal Abbrev ND	Traditional Abbreviation N.Dak.
Name of U.S. State Ohio	Postal Abbrev OH	Traditional Abbreviation Ohio
Name of U.S. State Oklahoma	Postal Abbrev OK	Traditional Abbreviation Okla.
Name of U.S. State Oregon	Postal Abbrev OR	Traditional Abbreviation Ore. or Oreg.
Name of U.S. State Pennsylvania	Postal Abbrev PA	Traditional Abbreviation Pa.
Name of U.S. State Rhode Island	Postal Abbrev RI	Traditional Abbreviation R.I.
Name of U.S. State South Carolina	Postal Abbrev SC	Traditional Abbreviation S.C.
Name of U.S. State South Dakota	Postal Abbrev SD	Traditional Abbreviation S.Dak.

T-W List of Abbreviations from Tennessee to Wyoming

All the abbreviations you need from Tennessee to the Equality State.

Name of U.S. State	Postal Abbrev	Traditional Abbreviation
Name of U.S. State Tennessee	Postal Abbrev TN	Traditional Abbreviation Tenn.
Name of U.S. State Texas	Postal Abbrev TX	Traditional Abbreviation Tex. or Texas
Name of U.S. State Utah	Postal Abbrev UT	Traditional Abbreviation Utah
Name of U.S. State Vermont	Postal Abbrev VT	Traditional Abbreviation Vt.
Name of U.S. State Virginia	Postal Abbrev VA	Traditional Abbreviation Va.
Name of U.S. State Washington	Postal Abbrev WA	Traditional Abbreviation Wash.
Name of U.S. State West Virginia	Postal Abbrev WV	Traditional Abbreviation W.Va.
Name of U.S. State Wisconsin	Postal Abbrev WI	Traditional Abbreviation Wis. or Wisc.
Name of U.S. State Wyoming	Postal Abbrev WY	Traditional Abbreviation Wyo.

US Two-Letter Abbreviations for Commonwealth and Territories

As the United States has 6 territories outside of the 50 states in the union, they have the same rule of two capital letters for their official state abbreviations; these have also been standardized by the United States Postal Service (USPS)

Name	Postal Abbrev	Traditional Abbreviation
Name American Samoa	Postal Abbrev ASAmer.	Traditional Abbreviation Samoa
Name District of Columbia	Postal Abbrev DC	Traditional Abbreviation D.C.
Name Guam	Postal Abbrev GU	Traditional Abbreviation Guam
Name Northern Mariana Islands	Postal Abbrev MP	Traditional Abbreviation M.P.
Name Puerto Rico	Postal Abbrev PR	Traditional Abbreviation P.R.
Name Virgin Islands	Postal Abbrev VI	Traditional Abbreviation V.I.

Common Postal Abbreviations You Should Know

Reading your post and wondering what the abbreviations for the postal service mean? Here’s a list of common abbreviations you might encounter.

Abbreviation	Meaning
Abbreviation COA	Meaning Change of Address
Abbreviation CFS	Meaning Computerized Forwarding System
Abbreviation USPS	Meaning United States Postal Service
Abbreviation U.S.	Meaning United States
Abbreviation POB	Meaning Post Office Box
Abbreviation UTF	Meaning Unable to Forward

FAQs

Got a question? See if we've answered it here!

A-Z of the 50 US State Abbreviations & Codes

Save this state abbreviation list for when you need to put a mailing address!

Author: Sarah Perowne

More content