U.S. state and territory abbreviations | List, Postal Abbreviation, & Facts (2024)

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U.S. state and territory abbreviations | List, Postal Abbreviation, & Facts (1)

Who came up with U.S. state abbreviations? We can largely thank the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), which has created abbreviations during much of its history. In 1831 the USPS developed its first list of state abbreviations, each consisting of two letters except Ohio’s, which was simply “O.” In 1874 the list was updated to include new states, and longer abbreviations were introduced, largely to avoid confusion. The next significant change occurred in 1963 when the Post Office went back to two-letter abbreviations. Why? Because ZIP codes were adopted that year, and, owing to the limitations of addressing equipment, abbreviations had to be shortened to make room for the numbers. While the two-letter abbreviations are now preferred, the earlier versions continue to be widely used. In the table below, we provide abbreviations for each U.S. state and territory.

U.S. state or territory postal abbreviation traditional abbreviation*
*Included are previous postal abbreviations and other commonly used abbreviations. N/A indicates states that do not have such abbreviations.
Alabama AL Ala.
Alaska AK N/A
American Samoa AS A.S.
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.
Guam GU N/A
Hawaii HI N/A
Idaho ID N/A
Illinois IL Ill.
Indiana IN Ind.
Iowa IA N/A
Kansas KS Kans. or Kan.
Kentucky KY Ky.
Louisiana LA La.
Maine ME Me.
Maryland MD Md.
Massachusetts MA Mass.
Michigan MI Mich.
Minnesota MN Minn.
Mississippi MS Miss.
Missouri MO Mo.
Montana MT Mont.
Nebraska NE Nebr. or Neb.
Nevada NV Nev.
New Hampshire NH N.H.
New Jersey NJ N.J.
New Mexico NM N.M. or N.Mex.
New York NY N.Y.
North Carolina NC N.C.
North Dakota ND N.D. or N.Dak.
Northern Mariana Islands MP M.P.
Ohio OH N/A
Oklahoma OK Okla.
Oregon OR Ore. or Oreg.
Pennsylvania PA Pa. or Penn.
Puerto Rico PR P.R.
Rhode Island RI R.I.
South Carolina SC S.C.
South Dakota SD S.Dak.
Tennessee TN Tenn.
Texas TX Tex.
U.S. Virgin Islands VI V.I.
Utah UT N/A
Vermont VT Vt.
Virginia VA Va.
Washington WA Wash.
West Virginia WV W.Va.
Wisconsin WI Wis. or Wisc.
Wyoming WY Wyo.

Amy Tikkanen

U.S. state and territory abbreviations | List, Postal Abbreviation, & Facts (2024)

FAQs

What are the 50 state abbreviations? ›

State and Territory Abbreviations
StateStandardPostal
AlaskaAlaskaAK
ArizonaAriz.AZ
ArkansasArk.AR
CaliforniaCalif.CA
51 more rows

Where can you find a list of postal abbreviations for the United States? ›

A more complete list of current abbreviations, including all U.S. possessions, is available online at https://pe.usps.com/text/pub28/28apb.htm. To allow space for the ZIP Code in the last line of an address, state names needed to be abbreviated.

What is the only US state to change its initial two-letter abbreviation? ›

In October 1963, the Department settled on the current two-letter abbreviations. 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.

What is the only US state whose official postal abbreviation is two vowels? ›

And that's not the only vowel-related bit of trivia that makes Iowa unique. It's also the only state whose two-letter abbreviation consists of two vowels.

What state has no abbreviation? ›

Do not abbreviate Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, or Utah. Use the ZIP code abbreviation for mailing addresses.

What is the only letter not in the 50 state names? ›

Letter Q is the only letter not used in the US state names.

Are the 52 states in the United States? ›

The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, a federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major territories, and various minor islands. Both the states and the United States as a whole are each sovereign jurisdictions.

What is the ZIP Code for US territories? ›

Within the U.S. Territories, American Samoa (postal abbreviation AS) uses zip code 96799, and Guam (postal abbreviation GU) uses zip codes in the range 96910–96932. Each major island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (postal abbreviation MP) has its own zip code in the 96950-96952 range.

What are the two letters for each state? ›

  • Alabama - AL.
  • Alaska - AK.
  • Arizona - AZ.
  • Arkansas - AR.
  • California - CA.
  • Colorado - CO.
  • Connecticut - CT.
  • Delaware - DE.

Has a U.S. state ever changed its name? ›

Tiny Rhode Island has become the first of the 50 US states ever to change its name. Even many Americans don't realize that Rhode Island, the smallest US state by area, actually had a longer official name until last year: State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

What is the best abbreviation for United States? ›

Abbreviations for United States: US, U.S., and USA.

What is the abbreviation for Western? ›

western | Intermediate English

(abbreviation W.) lying toward, facing, or coming from the west: Grand Rapids is in the western part of Michigan.

Which states start with a vowel? ›

There are 12 states in the U.S. that start with a vowel: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah.

Is there a US state for every letter of the alphabet? ›

There is every letter in the alphabet contained in the names of the 50 states except for the letter Q.

What is the abbreviation for Central? ›

The word "center" has a lot of meanings and uses, and partly as a result I've seen it abbreviated in many ways, e.g., "cnt.", "cntr.", "cent.," "centr." (though this last might also be taken as an abbreviation for "central") and even "c./C" where the context is clear enough, e.g., the position of center in ice hockey ...

What is the 50 state state? ›

The 50 states in the United States are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New ...

How many states are in the USA 50 or 52? ›

There are fifty (50) states and Washington D.C.The last two states to join the Union were Alaska (49th) and Hawaii (50th). Both joined in 1959. Washington D.C. is a federal district under the authority of Congress. Local government is run by a mayor and 13 member city council.

What state is HI? ›

TWO-LETTER STATE AND TERRITORY ABBREVIATIONS
STATE(TERRITORY)STATE(TERRITORY)
HawaiiHIVA
IdahoIDVI
IllinoisILWA
IndianaINWV
15 more rows

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