State Abbreviations in AP Style

The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook is, at its core, a guide for newspapers and other media publications. However, it has become a popular style guide for professional or corporate writing across various industries, with many businesses following AP style for their blog articles and web content. So, if you’re proofreading for clients in the US, chances are you’ll encounter AP – including its particular approach to abbreviations. One area where mistakes often pop up is state abbreviations. So, to help you stay sharp, we’ve broken down the AP style rules for abbreviating US state names.

When to Abbreviate State Names in AP Style

The first thing to be aware of is that AP style only requires state names to be abbreviated in specific circumstances. These are:

• When a state name appears alongside a city, town, village, or military base in most datelines (a dateline is a brief statement included at the beginning of news articles that describes when and where the story was written)
• In tables, lists, non-publishable editor’s notes, and credit lines
• In short-form political affiliations, such as D-Vt. (short for Democrat Vermont) or R-Wyo. (meaning Republican Wyoming), which appear after a person’s name 

When Not to Abbreviate State Names in AP Style

Outside of the situations above, AP style generally requires state names to be spelled out in full. A state name should not be abbreviated if:

• It is in the main body of an article, even if a city is mentioned alongside the state
• The state is noncontiguous (i.e., Alaska or Hawaii)
• The state name is five letters or fewer (i.e., Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah)

These last two rules mean that there are eight states that are never abbreviated in datelines or in body text: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah.

It’s also worth noting that the state name is not included if the dateline features a city recognizable enough not to require a state name alongside it (e.g., New York or Los Angeles). So in these cases, the state name would not appear at all (either abbreviated or in full).

State Abbreviations in AP Style

AP uses a unique set of abbreviations for state names, and these are different from standard US postal codes. This can be a source of confusion, so always double-check which format your client is using.

You can refer back to this table when you need to check state abbreviations or postal codes. Watch out for capitalization and punctuation too, as those are often tripping points.

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Updated on April 2, 2025

Related posts:

Proofreading Tips: Abbreviations in AP Style An Introduction to the AP Stylebook A Proofreader’s Guide to Dates in AP Style Proofreading Tips: Numbers in AP Style