Postal and Traditional State Abbreviations Reference Guide

Wondering when to use abbreviations versus the full names when writing about states? As a general rule, the names of states should be spelled out when they appear in sentences  but abbreviated in other contexts. For example: Our family had been  transferred from Endicott, New York, to Raleigh, North Carolina. That was the word used by the people at IBM, transferred.  (David Sedaris, Naked, 1997)Both  men were raised in the Midwest   (Garfield in Ohio, Guiteau in Illinois) by a single, widowed parent.  (Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation, 2005) This rule applies also if you are writing something formal and following a style guide, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, MLA Style, American Psychological Association Publication Manual (APA), or Associated Press Style (AP).   When to Use State Abbreviations In bibliographies,  lists, charts where space is at a premium, reference lists, footnotes and endnotes, and in mailing addresses, state names are usually shortened  using the postal abbreviation. This applies to  Chicago Manual of Style  and the American psychological Association Style (APA). The two-letter, no-period state abbreviations recommended by the U.S. Postal Service (See Postal Abbreviations in the chart below.) should always be used where a Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code follows. These postal  abbreviations may also be used in any context where abbreviations are appropriate. Some writers and editors still prefer to use the older forms of state abbreviations. (See Traditional Abbreviations in the table below.) If you follow this practice, be consistent in your use of the traditional abbreviations, and remember that eight states (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah) are only rarely abbreviated when using the older (pre-ZIP code) forms. Why the ZIP Code Abbreviations Were Developed Before 1963, there were no ZIP  codes used on postal mail in the United States, and the U.S. Post Office preferred that people wrote out state and territory names  completely  to avoid confusion in sorting mail. In the early 1800s, it had established a standardized list of acceptable abbreviations, updating it in 1874. The list remained relatively unchanged until ZIP codes were introduced.   The addition of seven additional characters on a final address line (ZIP code plus two spaces) necessitated the shortening of state abbreviations to fewer characters. The Post Office aimed to fit the final address line into 23 characters to accommodate major addressing systems. U.S. or US for United States Finally, United States may be abbreviated to U.S. when used as an adjective, but in formal writing, its customarily spelled out as a noun. If you are following the Chicago Manual, youll remove the periods to become US except in bibliography or reference entries pertaining to U.S. statutes, court cases, and other legal-context usages, which retain the periods. If youre following APA or AP, you  will keep  the periods there too. MLA prefers to spell out United States as an adjective or a noun in running text. List of State Abbreviations This handy chart has both the postal and the traditional abbreviations, for your reference: STATE POSTAL ABBREVIATION TRADITIONAL ABBREVIATION Alabama AL Ala. Alaska AK Alaska 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 Kans. 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. or Nebr. Nevada NV Nev. New Hampshire NH N.H. New Jersey NJ N.J. New Mexico NM N.Mex. New York NY N.Y. North Carolina NC N.C. North Dakota ND N.Dak. Ohio OH Ohio Oklahoma OK Okla. Oregon OR Ore. or Oreg. Pennsylvania PA Pa. Rhode Island RI R.I. South Carolina SC S.C. South Dakota SD S.Dak. Tennessee TN Tenn. Texas TX Tex. or Texas Utah UT Utah Vermont VT Vt. Virginia VA Va. Washington WA Wash. West Virginia WV W.Va. Wisconsin WI Wis. or Wisc. Wyoming WY Wyo.