State Abbreviations

The US has 50 states, a national capital along with commonwealths, and other territories around the world. Each state has its own unique shortened name codes called state abbreviations used in written documents and mailing addresses.

The state abbreviations are always in the same format: two letter abbreviations where both letters are uppercase and no periods or spaces between each letter. This format is the official USPS postal abbreviation.

When writing for  text or in references, traditional abbreviations are used. The names of states should be always spelled out when they are written in sentences.  

Below is a list of state abbreviations, both two-letter and traditional for all of the 50 US states and other territories outside the Union. 

Traditional abbreviations were used before the two-letter postal codes became standard. The abbreviations are sometimes still used in note taking and text writing.  

Eight states are never abbreviated in text though; Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. It’s easy to remember that rule. States with five or fewer letters, plus Alaska and Hawaii, are never abbreviated.

The United States may be abbreviated to U.S. when used as an adjective, but in formal writing, it’s customarily spelled out. Most often, and especially in casual writing, remove the periods to spell out the United States as US.