USPS Address Format

Properly formatted US mailing addresses are essential for reliable mail delivery, package shipping, bulk mail qualification, and address database integrity. The United States Postal Service (USPS) publishes comprehensive addressing standards in Publication 28 (Postal Addressing Standards) that define how every element of a domestic address should be formatted and ordered. Following these standards ensures your mail is machine-readable, processed efficiently, and delivered accurately.

Standard USPS Domestic Address Format

A correctly formatted USPS domestic address consists of up to six lines, ordered as follows:

Line 1: Recipient Name (or Attention Line) The name of the individual, company department, or attention designation. Examples: JOHN SMITH; ACME CORPORATION; ATTN ACCOUNTS PAYABLE.

Line 2: Secondary Addressee (if applicable) The company or organization name when Line 1 is an individual name within a company. Example: When mailing to John Smith at Acme Corporation, Line 1 = JOHN SMITH, Line 2 = ACME CORPORATION.

Line 3: Delivery Address Line The street address including house/building number, pre-directional (if any), street name, street type abbreviation, post-directional (if any), and secondary unit designator and number. Examples: 123 MAIN ST; 456 N ELM AVE APT 2B; 789 W BROADWAY STE 400.

Line 4: City, State, and ZIP Code The city name, followed by exactly two spaces (or a comma and space), followed by the 2-letter state abbreviation, followed by exactly two spaces (or one space), followed by the 5-digit ZIP code or ZIP+4. Example: NEW YORK NY 10001 or NEW YORK NY 10001-1234.

USPS Street Type Abbreviations

USPS maintains a complete list of approved street type abbreviations. The most common: ALLEY → ALY, AVENUE → AVE, BOULEVARD → BLVD, CIRCLE → CIR, COURT → CT, DRIVE → DR, EXPRESSWAY → EXPY, FREEWAY → FWY, HIGHWAY → HWY, LANE → LN, PARKWAY → PKWY, PLACE → PL, PLAZA → PLZ, ROAD → RD, SQUARE → SQ, STREET → ST, TERRACE → TER, TRAIL → TRL, TURNPIKE → TPKE, WAY → WAY.

Directional Abbreviations

Pre- and post-directionals are abbreviated: NORTH → N, SOUTH → S, EAST → E, WEST → W, NORTHEAST → NE, NORTHWEST → NW, SOUTHEAST → SE, SOUTHWEST → SW. Examples: 123 N MAIN ST (North Main Street), 456 MAPLE AVE NW (Maple Avenue Northwest).

Secondary Unit Designators

Secondary unit designators indicate unit type within a multi-unit building. USPS standards: APARTMENT → APT, SUITE → STE, UNIT → UNIT, FLOOR → FL, BUILDING → BLDG, ROOM → RM, DEPARTMENT → DEPT. Examples: 456 OAK ST APT 3C; 789 BROADWAY STE 200; 100 MAIN ST FL 5.

State Abbreviations

USPS 2-letter state abbreviations (always capitalized): Alabama-AL, Alaska-AK, Arizona-AZ, Arkansas-AR, California-CA, Colorado-CO, Connecticut-CT, Delaware-DE, Florida-FL, Georgia-GA, Hawaii-HI, Idaho-ID, Illinois-IL, Indiana-IN, Iowa-IA, Kansas-KS, Kentucky-KY, Louisiana-LA, Maine-ME, Maryland-MD, Massachusetts-MA, Michigan-MI, Minnesota-MN, Mississippi-MS, Missouri-MO, Montana-MT, Nebraska-NE, Nevada-NV, New Hampshire-NH, New Jersey-NJ, New Mexico-NM, New York-NY, North Carolina-NC, North Dakota-ND, Ohio-OH, Oklahoma-OK, Oregon-OR, Pennsylvania-PA, Rhode Island-RI, South Carolina-SC, South Dakota-SD, Tennessee-TN, Texas-TX, Utah-UT, Vermont-VT, Virginia-VA, Washington-WA, West Virginia-WV, Wisconsin-WI, Wyoming-WY, District of Columbia-DC.

P.O. Box Format

Post Office Box addresses: PO BOX [number]. Examples: PO BOX 1234 or PO BOX 9999. The P.O. Box address is used instead of the street address when the recipient mail is routed to a box rather than a physical location. P.O. Box addresses use the ZIP code of the post office, which may differ from the street delivery ZIP for the same location.

Rural Route and Highway Contract Route

Rural routes: RR [number] BOX [number]. Example: RR 3 BOX 45. Highway contract routes: HC [number] BOX [number]. Example: HC 2 BOX 128. These formats serve addresses in rural areas not served by standard carrier route delivery.

Return Address Format

The return address (your address, as the sender) goes in the upper-left corner of the envelope or upper-left portion of a shipping label. It uses the same format as the delivery address. Its presence ensures the item can be returned to you if undeliverable.

Addressing for Automated Processing

USPS Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and barcode readers process addresses automatically. For machine readability: use ALL CAPS (though mixed case is accepted by modern OCR); use a sans-serif font at 10–12pt; leave at least 1/8 inch margins on all sides; ensure good contrast between ink and envelope; avoid decorative fonts or handwriting if automated processing is important.