ZIP CodesHow to write a United States address
Online forms, courier labels and letters to the United States all follow the same order. Getting the last line right, city, state and ZIP code, is what matters most.
The lines, in order
- Name of the person or company.
- Street line: house or building number first, then the street name. An apartment, suite or unit number goes at the end of this line or on its own line below.
- City, state and ZIP code on one line: the city, a comma, the two-letter state, then the ZIP code.
- UNITED STATES or USA on the last line, only when sending from another country.
The pattern
| Line 1 | NAME OF PERSON |
| Line 2 | NUMBER STREET NAME, APT NUMBER |
| Line 3 | CITY, ST 12345 |
| Line 4 | UNITED STATES |
Filling in a web form
- State: choose the state or type its two letters, such as CA for California or NY for New York. Every state and its letters.
- ZIP code: the five digits. Keep a zero at the start. If the form rejects your ZIP code, check that it matches the city and state you entered; the look-up shows which place a code belongs to.
- Phone number: US numbers have ten digits. From abroad they are written +1 and the ten digits.
Things that often go wrong
- Writing the house number after the street name. In the United States the number comes first.
- Leaving out the apartment or unit number in a large building.
- Using the name of a neighbourhood instead of the postal city. The look-up shows the city name tied to a ZIP code.
- A ZIP code from a different state than the one selected.
Checked in November 2026. General guidance, not connected with the United States Postal Service. For an important shipment, confirm the address with the receiver.