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US Address Formatter

Everyday

Format US mailing addresses to USPS standard: uppercase, abbreviated street suffixes, 2-letter state codes. Instant, in-browser. No data stored.

What is a US Address?

A US address formatter standardises a postal address to the format recommended by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The standard USPS format uses all uppercase letters, abbreviates street type words (Avenue → AVE, Boulevard → BLVD, Street → ST), converts state names to two-letter codes, and places the city, state, and ZIP code on the second line separated by commas and a space.

The USPS processes over 425 million pieces of mail daily using optical character recognition and barcode sorting equipment calibrated for uppercase, abbreviated addresses. While the postal system can handle mixed-case and unabbreviated addresses, correctly formatted addresses move through the sorting process more reliably and with fewer delivery exceptions.

Formatting matters most for business mailers sending invoices, statements, or direct mail at scale, and for developers building address-aware applications that submit addresses to mailing APIs. A consistent internal address format also makes records easier to deduplicate and search — "123 Main Street" and "123 MAIN ST" are the same address but would not match as strings without normalisation.

The formatter applies USPS Publication 28 street suffix abbreviations, recognises all 50 US state names and converts them to their two-letter codes, and strips non-numeric characters from ZIP codes. It is a formatting tool, not an address verification service — it applies rules to what you enter without confirming the address exists.

How to use this US Address calculator

  1. Enter the street address (including house number, street name, and unit if applicable) in the Street field.
  2. Enter the city name in the City field.
  3. Enter the state name (full name like "California" or two-letter code like "CA") in the State field.
  4. Enter the 5-digit or ZIP+4 code in the ZIP Code field.
  5. The Formatted Address output shows the USPS-standard two-line result. Copy it for use in mailing labels, correspondence, or database storage.

Formula & Methodology

The formatter applies the following transformations:

Street: Convert to uppercase. Identify the last word. If it matches a USPS Publication 28 street suffix (AVENUE, BOULEVARD, STREET, DRIVE, ROAD, LANE, COURT, PLACE, etc.), replace it with the official abbreviation (AVE, BLVD, ST, DR, RD, LN, CT, PL, etc.). Sixty-nine standard suffixes are included.

City: Convert to uppercase. No abbreviation is applied to city names.

State: Look up the full state name in the 50-state name-to-code table. If found, use the two-letter code. If the value is already a valid two-letter code, use it as-is. Otherwise, convert to uppercase.

ZIP: Strip all characters except digits and hyphens.

Output:
{STREET} {CITY}, {STATE} {ZIP}

Example:

| Input | Output |
|---|---|
| 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue | 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE |
| Washington | WASHINGTON |
| District of Columbia | DC |
| 20500 | 20500 |

Result:
1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE WASHINGTON, DC 20500

Frequently Asked Questions

A US address formatter standardises a postal address to the USPS (United States Postal Service) preferred format: street address on the first line, and city, two-letter state abbreviation, and ZIP code on the second line, all in uppercase. This format maximises deliverability for postal and courier services.
USPS optical character recognition (OCR) systems are calibrated on uppercase text. Uppercase addresses are processed faster and with fewer errors by automated mail sorting equipment. While lowercase addresses are generally delivered, uppercase formatting is the USPS official recommendation for business mailers.
The formatter converts street type words to their official USPS abbreviations: 'Avenue' becomes 'AVE', 'Boulevard' becomes 'BLVD', 'Drive' becomes 'DR', 'Street' becomes 'ST', and so on. The entire street address is converted to uppercase. These abbreviations are the USPS Publication 28 standard.
No. This is a format standardiser, not an address verification service. It applies USPS formatting rules to whatever you enter, but it cannot confirm that the street number, street name, city, and ZIP code correspond to a real, deliverable address. For address verification, you would need a geocoding or address validation API.
The formatter converts all 50 US state full names to their two-letter USPS abbreviation (e.g. 'California' → 'CA', 'New York' → 'NY'). Two-letter abbreviations are accepted as-is. If an unrecognised state name is entered, it is converted to uppercase and included unchanged.
Non-numeric characters other than hyphens are stripped from the ZIP code field. Standard 5-digit ZIP codes and ZIP+4 codes (e.g. 90210-1234) are both preserved. Spaces within the ZIP are removed.
Yes — include it in the Street field as a second line element. For example: '123 MAIN ST APT 4B'. USPS recommends the unit designator (APT, STE, UNIT) followed by the unit number on the same line as the street address, space-separated.
No. Formatting runs entirely in your browser. Your address is never transmitted to a server or stored anywhere.
Enter 'PO BOX 1234' in the Street field (no abbreviation needed beyond 'PO BOX'). The formatter uppercases it and leaves 'PO BOX' unchanged since it has no street-type suffix to abbreviate.
This formatter is designed for US postal addresses specifically. It applies USPS street suffix abbreviations and US state codes. For Indian addresses, postal formatting follows India Post conventions which differ significantly — PIN codes are 6 digits and state codes follow a different standard.
A ZIP+4 code adds four digits after a hyphen to the standard 5-digit ZIP code (e.g. 10001-0001). It identifies a specific block, building, or large-volume mail recipient. Including ZIP+4 improves delivery speed and is recommended for business bulk mailers, though it is optional for standard mail.
Also known as
US address formatUSPS address formatformat mailing addressstandardise US addressaddress normaliser