New York State Abbreviation

Author: Jason Coles

Updated On:

Updated On:

Sending packages, cards, or documents to a physical address or P.O. Box in New York, or when looking up an address online, will more often than not, require a postal state abbreviation when entering the address.

The United States is made up of 50 unique states, all implementing their own rules, laws, and regulations, but there’s one thing they all have in common and that is a two-letter postal abbreviation that is required when filling out an address to a specific state. The New York state abbreviation is no exception.

NY State Abbreviation

Remembering all 50 two-letter abbreviations is actually much harder than it sounds, with some states sharing similarly spelled names, and others with two names. However, we’ve created this page to bring you up to speed on the New York state abbreviation.




The New York state abbreviation is as simple as it gets regarding the US postal abbreviations, you only need to remember the first letter from both words that make up New York: “NY”. You’ll need to know and use this in many situations when referencing the state of New York – NY.

NY State Abbreviation

Now that you know what the NY state postal abbreviation is, it makes sense to know the name abbreviation for New York. The regular abbreviations to states’ names came out in 1963, but many were three to four letters in length and it was decided they would be too long for envelopes and packages as addressing equipment couldn’t accommodate these longer states abbreviations along with zip codes.

The NY state abbreviation is actually the same as the postal abbreviation, the only difference is the name abbreviation separates the letters with two periods, “N.Y.”. New York, aka The Empire State, has always been one of the most popular and busiest cities in the US, understanding the NY state abbreviation is important for a variety of different circumstances.

Check out our US State Initials table where you can see not just the New York – NY postal abbreviation, but each state’s unique two-letter postal abbreviations and regular abbreviations. We also have a one-page downloadable PDF that you can print and use as a reference – it has the NY state abbreviation and those of all other US states.

US State Initials

New York

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Jason Coles

Jason Coles is the Founder of Foreign USA and its Chief Content Writer and Editor. Recognized as a prolific business plan writer by many prominent immigration attorneys in the U.S. who refer his services to their clients regularly, Jason has written over 1,345 business plans across the past 17+ years for start-up companies and franchises looking to expand their footprint in the United States. Jason is considered a seasoned expert in his field. He creates detailed business plans for his clients that include five-year financial projections, market and industry analysis reports, demographic studies, organizational charts, job descriptions, employee hiring plans, and more.