On Postal Addresses
08 October 2004
Revised 05 May 2007
ASHLEY SMITH
1000 NE 1ST ST
ANYWHERE AS 99999-1111
(Details can be found on the United States Postal Service web
site.)
Address Location:
The address ought to be located in the center, or slightly center-right portion of the envelope. The space between the address and either side of the envelope should be no less than 1/2", it should be no closer than 7/8" to the top of the envelope and no closer than 5/8" to the bottom.
Address Lines:
Keep address lines in the following order:
Line 1: Name of recipient.
Line 2: Delivery address.
Line 3: City, state, and zip code.
Address Characters:
Capitalize everything, using plain block letters or a sans serif typeface such as Helvetica or Arial. Omit all punctuation, except the hyphen in the ZIP+4 code. Use abbreviations whenever possible.
Spacing:
There should be a clear vertical space between each character and each word. It also needs a clear horizontal space between each line of the address. Clear spaces between words should be at least equal to the width of one full-size character, like a capital "M."
Example of a Postal Address in Proper USPS Format: (This is the proper USPS address format for one fictional Ashley Smith who lives at 1000 Northeast First Street in the city of Anywhere, located in Anystate, USA. Proper state and street abbreviations, as well as zip codes, can be found at the USPS web site.)
ASHLEY SMITH
1000 NE 1ST ST
ANYWHERE AS 99999-1111
Non-Address Information:
Extraneous printing such as advertising copy or company logos should be positioned above the delivery address line. The space below and on either side of the delivery address line should be clear of all printing and markings not actually part of the address.
Return Address:
The return address should appear, in a smaller font, in the upper left corner of the envelope. The bottom of the last line of the return address should be no further than 7/8" away from the top of the envelope.
I find the USPS format to be offensive to the rules of English. It is not proper to write in all capitals in any formal documents (the only notable exceptions I can think of offhand are acronyms such as ‘NATO’ or ‘the WTO’– and, of course, title pages of books and court documents). Likewise, it is not proper to capitalize all letters in abbreviations of address indicators (such as ‘road’, ‘street’, or ‘boulevard’). The exceptions to the rule are compound directional markers (Northeast, Southwest, etc.) which do not necessarily require a period for punctuation (so NE and SW would be acceptable abbreviations).
When I write an address out, I often don’t use any abbreviations at all for aesthetic purposes. I consider a zip code that extends conspicuously beyond the body of the address to be detrimental to the aesthetic of the envelope. Where there is a long city-name in the address, the use of abbreviations in the first line can cause the zip code to extend a conspicuous distance beyond the zone of the rest of the address. Compare the following two address formats:
Ashley Smith
1000 NE 1st St.
Anywhere, AS 99999-1111
Ashley Smith
1000 Northeast 1st Street
Anywhere, Anystate 99999-1111
As you can see, the former has a much more conspicuous zip code than the latter. I also don’t usually abbreviate state names just for consistency’s sake.
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References:
USPS Publication 221
The Chicago Manual of Style
Copyright © 2004
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