US state abbreviations

Two-letter postal codes for every state on the map, plus the older written abbreviations still used in news style.

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State abbreviations list

State	USPS	Traditional	Capital
Alabama	`AL`	Ala.	Montgomery
Alaska	`AK`	Alaska	Juneau
Arizona	`AZ`	Ariz.	Phoenix
Arkansas	`AR`	Ark.	Little Rock
California	`CA`	Calif.	Sacramento
Colorado	`CO`	Colo.	Denver
Connecticut	`CT`	Conn.	Hartford
Delaware	`DE`	Del.	Dover
Florida	`FL`	Fla.	Tallahassee
Georgia	`GA`	Ga.	Atlanta
Hawaii	`HI`	Hawaii	Honolulu
Idaho	`ID`	Idaho	Boise
Illinois	`IL`	Ill.	Springfield
Indiana	`IN`	Ind.	Indianapolis
Iowa	`IA`	Iowa	Des Moines
Kansas	`KS`	Kan.	Topeka
Kentucky	`KY`	Ky.	Frankfort
Louisiana	`LA`	La.	Baton Rouge
Maine	`ME`	Maine	Augusta
Maryland	`MD`	Md.	Annapolis
Massachusetts	`MA`	Mass.	Boston
Michigan	`MI`	Mich.	Lansing
Minnesota	`MN`	Minn.	Saint Paul
Mississippi	`MS`	Miss.	Jackson
Missouri	`MO`	Mo.	Jefferson City
Montana	`MT`	Mont.	Helena
Nebraska	`NE`	Neb.	Lincoln
Nevada	`NV`	Nev.	Carson City
New Hampshire	`NH`	N.H.	Concord
New Jersey	`NJ`	N.J.	Trenton
New Mexico	`NM`	N.M.	Santa Fe
New York	`NY`	N.Y.	Albany
North Carolina	`NC`	N.C.	Raleigh
North Dakota	`ND`	N.D.	Bismarck
Ohio	`OH`	Ohio	Columbus
Oklahoma	`OK`	Okla.	Oklahoma City
Oregon	`OR`	Ore.	Salem
Pennsylvania	`PA`	Pa.	Harrisburg
Rhode Island	`RI`	R.I.	Providence
South Carolina	`SC`	S.C.	Columbia
South Dakota	`SD`	S.D.	Pierre
Tennessee	`TN`	Tenn.	Nashville
Texas	`TX`	Texas	Austin
Utah	`UT`	Utah	Salt Lake City
Vermont	`VT`	Vt.	Montpelier
Virginia	`VA`	Va.	Richmond
Washington	`WA`	Wash.	Olympia
West Virginia	`WV`	W.Va.	Charleston
Wisconsin	`WI`	Wis.	Madison
Wyoming	`WY`	Wyo.	Cheyenne

District and territories

Washington, District of Columbia	`DC`
Puerto Rico	`PR`
Guam	`GU`
US Virgin Islands	`VI`
American Samoa	`AS`
Northern Mariana Islands	`MP`

Easily confused codes

MI Michigan, MN Minnesota, MS Mississippi, MO Missouri, MT Montana — five states starting with M.
AL Alabama vs AK Alaska; AR Arkansas vs AZ Arizona.
NE is Nebraska, not Nevada (NV).
IA Iowa, ID Idaho, IL Illinois, IN Indiana.

The two-letter codes were introduced by the Postal Service in 1963 to fit ZIP codes on address lines. AP style still uses the traditional forms in running text (e.g. "Calif.") but eight short state names are never abbreviated: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Utah.

Test yourself with the abbreviations quiz.