Ground rules for addresses

  • Spell out all words in an address whenever space allows. When space is limited, use the following abbreviations with periods, but do not shorten already-short words such as Way.

    Word Abbreviation
    Apartment Apt.
    Avenue Ave.
    Boulevard Blvd.
    Building Bldg.
    Center Ctr.
    Circle Cir.
    Court Ct.
    Department Dept.
    Drive Dr.
    Floor Fl.
    Highway Hwy.
    Lane Ln.
    Number No.
    Parkway Pkwy.
    Place Pl.
    Plaza Plz.
    Road Rd.
    Room Rm.
    Route Rte.
    Square Sq.
    Street St.
    Suite Ste.

  • Hyphens and slashes may be used when needed for clarity or designated fractions.

    Examples:

    • 1511 - 11th Street
    • 3 ½ Pine Street
    • 400-D North Street

  • Spell out and capitalize First through Tenth when used as street names.

    Examples:

    • 2 Fifth Avenue
    • 15 - 22nd Street

  • Use digits for all house and building numbers.

    Example:

    • 2 Main Street

  • If necessary, use the abbreviation No. rather than abbreviating apartment, building, room or suite number. Never use the number/pound sign (#) anywhere in an address.

    Examples:

    • 123 Main Street, No. 45
    • 456 Oak Avenue, Rm. 2
    • 5 Web Way, Ste. 12

  • Abbreviate directional words such as South, East, West, Southwest without periods or spaces, unless they are part of the actual street name (such as North Street, East River Road, West End Avenue).

    Examples:

    • 149 North Street
    • 234 Jackson Street N
    • 1222 SW Morris Street
    • 15 N East River Road (the street name is East River Road, runs N & S)

    An exception to the above rule is when the street name itself is E, W, N or S or any single letter, such as K Street. In these cases, the compass direction preceding the street name should be spelled out.

    Examples:

    • 15 East E Street
    • 789 North W Place
    • 234 I Street SW
    • 456 O Street NE

  • For post office boxes, write P.O. Box with capitalizations, periods and a space between P.O. and Box (not PO Box or P O Box).

  • When listing states within an address listing, use the United States Postal Service two-letter abbreviations with no periods.

    Examples:

    • California CA
    • Nevada NV
    • New York NY
    • District of Columbia Washington, DC

  • When there are two or more addresses, list the physical/street address first followed by the mailing address, then the email address. When listing addresses and phone numbers on Contact Us pages, use the following order and labels:

    Example:

    Physical address:
    Mailing address:
    Email:
    [See Phone Numbers]

  • If an address is not available, stay silent. Do not add a line that says no address.

  • Never replace the word and with an ampersand (&) unless it is part of the legal company name.

    Examples:

    • Mr. and Mrs. Smith
    • Smith & Jones, LLC

  • When addressing to the attention of a person or entity, write Attn followed by a colon.

    Example:

    Best Law Firm
    Attn: Betsy Jones

  • When including an address within text, use commas to separate each level of address except zip code.

    Example:

    Documents can be hand-delivered to the office at 123 Main Street, Room
    4, Sacramento, California 91234.

  • Avoid offering email addresses on the website to reduce the vulnerability to spammers. When including an email address in a document that will be imaged as a PDF and posted on the website, precede it with introductory text but no colon.

    Example:

    For more information, contact Person Name at name@sos.ca.gov or (916)987-6543