How to ace State Abbreviations

Memorizing all 50 USPS two-letter state abbreviations is hard for one reason: too many states share starting letters. There are 8 M-states, 4 N-states, 4 A-states. This guide walks through the logic USPS used in 1963, the confused pairs, and a memorization order that builds on patterns instead of brute force.

How USPS picked the codes (1963)

The United States Postal Service rolled out the modern two-letter codes in October 1963, alongside the launch of ZIP codes. Three rules drove the choices:

1. Always two letters. Both characters are required. Single-letter codes (just "C" for California) would conflict with country and province codes.
2. Always uppercase, no periods. "CA" not "Ca." or "Cal."
3. First-come, first-served by state name. When multiple states started with the same letter, the older state usually got the obvious code.

That's why Alabama got AL (admitted 1819) and Alaska had to take AK (admitted 1959 — over a century later).

The 8 M-states: the biggest source of errors

Eight states begin with M. Their codes are NOT in alphabetical order — they were assigned by which letter inside the state name was distinctive enough to be unambiguous.

The M-state memory trick

Split the 8 M-states into two groups of 4:

• Group A — second letter matches: Massachusetts MA, Maryland MD, Maine ME, Michigan MI. Each code uses the actual second letter of the state name.
• Group B — distinctive consonant: Minnesota MN, Missouri MO, Mississippi MS, Montana MT. Each code grabs a later consonant that uniquely identifies the state.

The A-states: AL, AK, AZ, AR

Four states start with A, and they form the second-most-confused cluster:

• Alabama — AL — second letter L, the obvious choice.
• Alaska — AK — couldn't take AL (Alabama got it first). Grabbed K from "Alaska".
• Arizona — AZ — Z is distinctive. Easy to remember (Arizona has Z, nothing else does).
• Arkansas — AR — second letter R, mirroring the "Ar-" start.

Memory trick: AL/AK are the AL-pair (both Al- states), AZ/AR are the Ar/Az pair (after the second letter).

The N-states: 4 with double-letter codes

All four N-states have unique two-letter codes:

• Nebraska — NE
• Nevada — NV
• New Hampshire — NH
• New Jersey — NJ
• New Mexico — NM
• New York — NY
• North Carolina — NC
• North Dakota — ND

The "New" states (NH, NJ, NM, NY) use N + first letter of the second word — easy. The "North" states use N + first letter of "Carolina" or "Dakota". Nebraska and Nevada break the pattern: NE and NV.

Nebraska vs Nevada — the easiest swap

Both are NE_. Nebraska is NE. Nevada is NV. Mnemonic: Nevada has Las Vegas — V for Vegas.

The C-states and the K-trick

• California — CA
• Colorado — CO
• Connecticut — CT
• Kentucky — KY (not C-coded — Kentucky uses K)
• Kansas — KS (also K-coded)

Kentucky and Kansas are the only K-state codes. They both phonetically start with K but only Kentucky has the silent C... actually neither does: both are K-starting words. Easy bucket.

The Carolina/Dakota/Virginia pairs

The compass-direction states always start the code with N, S, or W. Virginia gets the prime "VA" — West Virginia uses "WV".

Codes that don't match the state name at all

A few codes feel arbitrary. Memorize them as exceptions:

• Iowa — IA (not IO)
• Louisiana — LA (Los Angeles airport shares "LAX" — not a city code)
• Hawaii — HI (sounds friendly: "Hi!")
• Pennsylvania — PA (not PE or PN)
• Texas — TX (not TE — the X is distinctive)

Frequently asked questions

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