States | Western Michigan University (2024)

The state of...

Always lowercase the word state in constructions such as, "the state of Michigan." In general, the construction the "state of" is unnecessary and should not be used, except as a nonspecific reference to the government of a state or in cases such as "state of Washington" or "state of New York," to distinguish between the state and the well-known city of the same name.

Use: Funding was provided by the state of Michigan (meaning the government).
Use: He was born in Michigan (not the state of Michigan).

Spell out state names in most cases

The names of the 50 U.S. states should be spelled out in general text, whether standing alone or in conjunction with a city, town, village or military base. See the cities entry for a list of large cities that never need to be identified by state.

When to use abbreviations

Use the state abbreviations listed at the end of this section only in the following cases.

In conjunction with the name of a city, town, village or military base in most datelines, use the traditional abbreviation.
In lists and tabular material, use the traditional abbreviation.
In short-form listings of party affiliation, use the traditional abbreviation (D-Ala., R-Mont.).
When used in an address, use the two-letter USPS abbreviation. (For more information, write to Joan Jones, 23 Any St, Greensburg PA 15601-2001.) See also addresses. When used to clarify location, the state name should be spelled out. (We traveled to DeKalb, Illinois, for the football game.) If the construction includes a ZIP code, it's an address; if it does not, it's a location.

When writing news stories, no state name is necessary in the body of the story if it is the same as the dateline. So, for example, if your dateline reads "KALAMAZOO, Mich.," then every city you list is presumed to be in Michigan. If a city is located in another state, you need to spell out that state name fully.

How to abbreviate state names

**State abbreviations**
Name	USPS	Traditional*
Alabama	AL	Ala.
Alaska	AK	Alaska
American Somoa	AS	Amer. Somoa
Arizona	AZ	Ariz.
Arkansas	AR	Ark.
California	CA	Calif.
Colorado	CO	Colo.
Connecticut	CT	Conn.
Delaware	DE	Del.
District of Columbia	DC	D.C.
Florida	FL	Fla.
Georgia	GA	Ga.
Hawaii	HI	Hawaii
Idaho	ID	Idaho
Illinois	IL	Ill.
Indiana	IN	Ind.
Iowa	IA	Iowa
Kansas	KS	Kan.
Kentucky	KY	Ky.
Louisiana	LA	La.
Maine	ME	Maine
Maryland	MD	Md.
Massachusetts	MA	Mass.
Michigan	MI	Mich.
Minnesota	MN	Minn.
Mississippi	MS	Miss.
Missouri	MO	Mo.
Montana	MT	Mont.
Nebraska	NE	Neb.
Nevada	NV	Nev.
New Hampshire	NH	N.H.
New Jersey	NJ	N.J.
New Mexico	NM	N.M.
New York	NY	N.Y.
North Carolina	NC	N.C.
North Dakota	ND	N.D.
Ohio	OH	Ohio
Oklahoma	OK	Okla.
Oregon	OR	Ore.
Pennsylvania	PA	Pa.
Puerto Rico	PR	P.R.
Rhode Island	RI	R.I.
South Carolina	SC	S.C.
South Dakota	SD	S.D.
Tennessee	TN	Tenn.
Texas	TX	Texas
Utah	UT	Utah
Vermont	VT	Vt.
Virginia	VA	Va.
Virgin Islands	VI	V.I.
Washington	WA	Wash.
West Virginia	WV	W.Va.
Wisconsin	WI	Wis.
Wyoming	WY	Wyo.

Eight states not abbreviated

The names of eight states are never abbreviated in datelines or text: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. Memory aid: States with five or fewer letters, plus Alaska and Hawaii, are never abbreviated.