US State Abbreviation Map

About US State Abbreviation Map

Explore this US map with abbreviation labeled for all 50 U.S. states.

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List of US States Abbreviations

S. No.	State Name	Abbreviation	Capital City	Approx. Population (2023)	Region
1	Alabama	AL	Montgomery	5,100,000	South
2	Alaska	AK	Juneau	730,000	West
3	Arizona	AZ	Phoenix	7,400,000	West
4	Arkansas	AR	Little Rock	3,050,000	South
5	California	CA	Sacramento	39,000,000	West
6	Colorado	CO	Denver	5,900,000	West
7	Connecticut	CT	Hartford	3,600,000	Northeast
8	Delaware	DE	Dover	1,000,000	South
9	Florida	FL	Tallahassee	22,200,000	South
10	Georgia	GA	Atlanta	11,000,000	South
11	Hawaii	HI	Honolulu	1,400,000	West
12	Idaho	ID	Boise	1,950,000	West
13	Illinois	IL	Springfield	12,500,000	Midwest
14	Indiana	IN	Indianapolis	6,800,000	Midwest
15	Iowa	IA	Des Moines	3,200,000	Midwest
16	Kansas	KS	Topeka	2,950,000	Midwest
17	Kentucky	KY	Frankfort	4,500,000	South
18	Louisiana	LA	Baton Rouge	4,600,000	South
19	Maine	ME	Augusta	1,400,000	Northeast
20	Maryland	MD	Annapolis	6,200,000	South
21	Massachusetts	MA	Boston	7,000,000	Northeast
22	Michigan	MI	Lansing	10,000,000	Midwest
23	Minnesota	MN	Saint Paul	5,800,000	Midwest
24	Mississippi	MS	Jackson	2,900,000	South
25	Missouri	MO	Jefferson City	6,200,000	Midwest
26	Montana	MT	Helena	1,100,000	West
27	Nebraska	NE	Lincoln	2,000,000	Midwest
28	Nevada	NV	Carson City	3,200,000	West
29	New Hampshire	NH	Concord	1,400,000	Northeast
30	New Jersey	NJ	Trenton	9,300,000	Northeast
31	New Mexico	NM	Santa Fe	2,100,000	West
32	New York	NY	Albany	19,800,000	Northeast
33	North Carolina	NC	Raleigh	10,900,000	South
34	North Dakota	ND	Bismarck	800,000	Midwest
35	Ohio	OH	Columbus	11,800,000	Midwest
36	Oklahoma	OK	Oklahoma City	4,000,000	South
37	Oregon	OR	Salem	4,300,000	West
38	Pennsylvania	PA	Harrisburg	13,000,000	Northeast
39	Rhode Island	RI	Providence	1,100,000	Northeast
40	South Carolina	SC	Columbia	5,400,000	South
41	South Dakota	SD	Pierre	950,000	Midwest
42	Tennessee	TN	Nashville	7,000,000	South
43	Texas	TX	Austin	30,000,000	South
44	Utah	UT	Salt Lake City	3,400,000	West
45	Vermont	VT	Montpelier	650,000	Northeast
46	Virginia	VA	Richmond	8,800,000	South
47	Washington	WA	Olympia	7,900,000	West
48	West Virginia	WV	Charleston	1,800,000	South
49	Wisconsin	WI	Madison	5,900,000	Midwest
50	Wyoming	WY	Cheyenne	580,000	West

Why US States Abbreviations?

The United States uses two-letter abbreviations for each of its 50 states as standardized identification codes. The abbreviations play a vital role in postal services and government documents as well as data management and various professional and digital applications. The United States Postal Service (USPS) developed the abbreviation system during the mid-20th century to make its addressing system more efficient. The United States Postal Service established two-letter codes in 1963 as part of its Zone Improvement Plan which people commonly refer to as ZIP codes. The system enabled efficient mail sorting and delivery operations between states.

Every state has its own abbreviation which is two capital letters taken from the state name like CA for California, NY for New York and TX for Texas. The standardized codes were developed to prevent confusion that occurred when states had similar names or overlapping abbreviations. Prior to the system being standardized, there were some states that had similar one or two letter identifiers which caused problems with mail and document routing and delays.

State abbreviations serve as an additional method to state names and they appear in legal documents and government forms as well as vehicle registrations and airline systems and educational records and national databases. The simplicity and clarity of state abbreviations make them suitable for systems that require concise input fields. The use of state abbreviations during federal tax form completion and voter registration maintains uniformity across all 50 million entries.

The Geographic Names Information System and Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) codes incorporate abbreviations to support consistency between public and private data systems. The codes serve to present information clearly and accurately in cartography, publishing, and statistical reports, particularly when space is limited or data is sorted by state.