US postal abbreviations

The United States Postal Service uses two-letter abbreviations for the U.S. states and territories of the US, as specified below. For other purposes as well, they are frequently used. Canada Post also recognizes these postal abbreviations.

AL: Alabama AK: Alaska AS: American Samoa AZ: Arizona AR: Arkansas AE: Armed Forces Africa AA: Armed Forces Americas (Except Canada) AE: Armed Forces Canada AE: Armed Forces Europe AE: Armed Forces Middle East AP: Armed Forces Pacific CA: California CO: Colorado CT: Connecticut DE: Delaware DC: District of Columbia FM: Federated States of Micronesia FL: Florida GA: Georgia GU: Guam HI: Hawaii ID: Idaho

IL: Illinois IN: Indiana IA: Iowa KS: Kansas KY: Kentucky LA: Louisiana ME: Maine MH: Marshall Islands MD: Maryland MA: Massachusetts MI: Michigan MN: Minnesota MS: Mississippi MO: Missouri MT: Montana NE: Nebraska NV: Nevada NH: New Hampshire NJ: New Jersey NM: New Mexico NY: New York NC: North Carolina

ND: North Dakota MP: Northern Mariana Islands OH: Ohio OK: Oklahoma OR: Oregon PW: Palau PA: Pennsylvania PR: Puerto Rico RI: Rhode Island SC: South Carolina SD: South Dakota TN: Tennessee TX: Texas UT: Utah VT: Vermont VI: U.S. Virgin Islands VA: Virginia WA: Washington WV: West Virginia WI: Wisconsin WY: Wyoming

The following abbreviations for the Canadian provinces and territories, used by Canada Post, are also recognized:

AB: Alberta BC: British Columbia MB: Manitoba NB: New Brunswick NL: Newfoundland and Labrador formerly NF

NT: Northwest Territories NS: Nova Scotia NU: Nunavut currently still using NT ON: Ontario

PE: Prince Edward Island QU: Quebec SN: Saskatchewan YK: Yukon Territory

Other abbreviations used by the US postal service:

The USPS recommends address be written in block capital letters, probably for better processing by their OCR machinery. They prefer some standard abbreviations (http://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/usps_abbreviations.htm) for common terms in street addresses.

AVE = avenue BLVD = boulevard CIR = circle CT = court EXPY = expressway LN = lane PKWY = parkway RD = road ST = street WY = way

APT = apartment CTR = center NO = number STE = suite

E = east N = north S = south W = west