Many excellent writers understandably get tripped up when representing states in their copy. This is one area where AP Style is pretty specific and you can make it easy on yourself by just following a few rules and examples – and keeping the AP Style book or this blog post handy.
State Names Alone vs. With a City
Always spell out the names of all 50 states when they stand alone. Example: “I wish I could go to California.” But “I wish I could go to Burbank, Calif.” If you’re making a table or other chart/graph, AP does allow to condense them.
There are eight state names that are never abbreviated: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah. A good pneumonic device is always spell out all states with five or fewer letters and the two states that are not in the contiguous U.S. (Alaska and Hawaii). Thus, the example becomes: “I wish I could go to Honolulu, Hawaii.”
State Abbreviations
It’s important to note that state abbreviations differ for postal codes than for other references. When you’re citing an address within copy, the two-letter postal code with both letters capitalized and no dots or spaces is perfectly acceptable.
However, other references, normally along with a city name, you’ll just have to practice and become familiar with all 42 abbreviations unless you have a photographic memory. Below are the proper abbreviations minus the eight states that are never abbreviated. The corresponding postal codes are in parentheses.
Ala. (AL)
Ariz. (AZ)
Ark. (AR)
Calif. (CA)
Colo. (CO)
Conn. (CT)
Del. (DE)
Fla. (FL)
Ga. (GA)
Ill. (IL)
Ind. (IN)
Kan. (KS)
Ky. (KY)
La. (LA)
Md. (MD)
Mass. (MA)
Mich. (MI)
Minn. (MN)
Miss. (MS)
Mo. (MO)
Mont. (MT)
Neb. (NE)
Nev. (NV)
N.H. (NH)
N.J. (NJ)
N.M. (NM)
N.Y. (NY)
N.C. (NC)
N.D. (ND)
Okla. (OK)
Ore. (OR)
Pa. (PA)
R.I. (RI)
S.C. (SC)
S.D. (SD)
Tenn. (TN)
Vt. (VT)
Va. (VA)
Wash. (WA)
W.Va. (WV)
Wis. (WI)
Wyo. (WY)
Again, here are the eight never-abbreviated states, listed with their postal codes: Alaska (AK), Hawaii (HI), Idaho (ID), Iowa (IA), Maine (ME), Ohio (OH), Texas (TX), and Utah (UT).
Once you get over the urge to automatically use the postal codes within copy, just remember, when you cite state names in copy, use periods in the abbreviations. Everyone one of them has a period or two. And don’t get tripped up because some states are very similar to their postal codes and others are not.
Datelines
The same rules apply in datelines for those eight never-abbreviated states. However, just to make us writers work extra hard, there are about 30 cities that are so large and recognizable it is not necessary to use the state name. Another blog will cover those large cities and their proper representation within datelines.
I’m sure all the Grammar Geeks and AP Style Aficionados are just holding their breath for that next blog post….’til then, happy writing!