United States Postal Service Address
Essential Elements
Address Line One
The primary delivery line (usually the street address) of the address.
Example
12 Armstrong Ct Apt 12
Property Name
line_1
Type
string
Address Line Two
Secondary delivery line of the address. Typically populated if the first line is the firm or building name.
Example
9450 Pinecroft Dr
Property Name
line_2
Type
string
City
A valid city name for mailing purposes; appears in the last line of an address on a mail piece.
Example
HOLTSVILLE
Property Name
city
Type
string
State
Full name of a state, U.S. territory, or armed forces ZIP Code designation.
Example
New York
Property Name
state
Type
string
Zip Code
A 5-digit code that identifies a specific geographic delivery area. ZIP Codes can represent an area within a state, or a single building or company that has a very high mail volume.
Example
1234
Property Name
zip_code
Type
string
Premise
Building or Firm Name
The name of a company, building, apartment complex, shopping center, or other distinguishing secondary address information. This field is normally used with firm and highrise records but may also contain literals such as “Postmaster” or “United States Postal Service.”
Example
POSTMASTER
Property Name
building_or_firm_name
Type
string
Government Building Indicator
An alphabetic value that identifies the type of government agency at the delivery point and/or whether a firm is the only delivery at an address. For this purpose, "address" is defined as the complete delivery line (e.g., complete street address and, if included as part of the firm record, the secondary abbreviation and/or address secondary number).
- A = City government building—alternates only
- B = Federal government building—alternates only
- C = State government building—alternates only
- D = Firm only—base and alternates
- E = City government building and firm only—alternates only
- F = Federal government building and firm only—alternates only
- G = State government building and firm only—alternates only
Property Name
government_building_indicator
Type
string
Possible Values
"""A""B""C""D""E""F""G"
Primary Number
A house, rural route, contract box, or Post Office Box number. The numeric or alphanumeric component of an address preceding the street name. Often referred to as house number.
Example
A298
Property Name
primary_number
Type
string
Secondary Number
Number of the sub unit, apartment, suite etc
Example
123A
Property Name
secondary_number
Type
string
Street
Street Names
The official name of a street as assigned by a local governing authority. The Street Name field contains only the street name and does not include directionals (EAST, WEST, etc.) or suffixes (ST, DR, BLVD, etc.). This element may also contain literals, such as PO BOX, GENERAL DELIVERY, USS, PSC, or UNIT.
Example
GOSHEN
Property Name
street_name
Type
string
Street Post Directional Abbreviation
A geographic direction that follows the street name.
Property Name
street_post_directional_abbreviation
Type
string
Street Pre-Directional Abbreviation
A geographic direction that precedes the street name.
Property Name
street_pre_directional_abbreviation
Type
string
Street Suffix Abbreviation
Code that is the standard USPS abbreviation for the trailing designator in a street address.
Example
ST
Property Name
street_suffix_abbreviation
Type
string
Locality
City Abbreviation
A standard 13-character abbreviation for a city/state name. This field is only used for names that are greater than 13 characters in length and have a city/state mailing name indicator of "Y." If the field is longer than 13 characters and the city/state mailing name indicator is "N," the field will be blank.
Example
W TOWNSHEND
Property Name
city_abbreviation
Type
string
City State Mailing Name Indicator
Specifies whether or not the city state name can be used as a last line of address on a mail piece.
- "Y = City/state name is a USPS-approved mailing name."
- "N = City/state name is not approved for mailing purposes."
Property Name
city_state_mailing_name_indicator
Type
string
City State Name Facility Code
The type of locale identified in the city/state name. The facility may be a USPS facility, such as a post office, station, or branch, or it may be a non-postal place name. City/state name facility codes include the following:
- B = Branch
- C = Community post office (CPO)
- N = Non-postal community name, former USPS facility, or place name
- P = Post Office
- S = Station
- U = Urbanization
Property Name
city_state_name_facility_code
Type
string
Possible Values
"B""C""N""P""S""U""Y"""
Last Line
Last line of the address comprising of city, state, zip code and zip+4
Example
Greenwich CT 06830-1234
Property Name
last_line
Type
string
Plus 4 Code
4 digit ZIP add-on code.
Example
1234
Property Name
plus_4_code
Type
string
Preferred Last Line City State Name
Field that contains the default preferred or alternate preferred last-line name for a ZIP Code.
Example
AGUADA
Property Name
preferred_city
Type
string
Preferred Last Line City State Key
In the Carrier Route, Five-Digit ZIP Code, Delivery Statistics, and ZIP + 4 products, an index to the City State product record that provides the preferred last-line name for this address range. In the City State product, the preferred last line city/state key contains the key value of a City State product record that has the default preferred or alternate preferred last-line key for a given ZIP Code.
Example
V13916
Property Name
preferred_last_line_city_state_key
Type
string
ZIP Classification Code
A field that describes the type of ZIP area that a 5-digit ZIP Code serves, e.g., a single educational institution, post office boxes only, or a single address that has unusually high mail volume or many different addresses.
- M = Military ZIP Code
- P = ZIP Code having only Post Office Boxes
- U = Unique ZIP Code (ZIP assigned to a single organization)
- Blank = Standard ZIP with many addresses assigned to it
Property Name
zip_classification_code
Type
string
Possible Values
"""M""P""U"
ZIP Code
A 5-digit code that identifies a specific geographic delivery area. ZIP Codes can represent an area within a state, or a single building or company that has a very high mail volume.
Example
1234
Property Name
zip_code
Type
string
ZIP +4 Code
Nine-digit code that identifies a small geographic delivery area that is serviceable by a single carrier; appears in the last line of the address on a mail piece.
Example
12345-6789
Property Name
zip_plus_4_code
Type
string
Administrative
County Number
The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code assigned to a given county or parish within a state. In Alaska, it identifies a region within the state. If APO/FPO/DPO, and the record type is “S,” “H,” or “F,” the county number will be blank.
Property Name
county_number
County
The name of the county or parish in which the 5-digit ZIP Code resides. If APO/FPO/DPO, then the county name will be blank.
Example
Suffolk
Property Name
county
Type
string
State Abbreviation
A 2-character abbreviation for the name of a state, U.S. territory, or armed forces ZIP Code designation. If APO/FPO/DPO, then the state abbreviation will be “AA,” “AE,” or “AP.”
Example
NY
Property Name
state_abbreviation
Type
string
USPS ISO Country Codes
3 letter country code (ISO 3166-1)
Property Name
usps_country_iso
Type
string
Possible Values
"ASM""FSM""GUM""MHL""MNP""PLW""PRI""USA""VIR"
Country
Full country names (ISO 3166)
Property Name
usps_country
Type
string
Possible Values
"American Samoa""Federated States of Micronesia""Guam""Marshall Islands""Northern Mariana Islands""Palau""Puerto Rico""United States""United States Virgin Islands"
Miscellaneous
Address Secondary Abbreviation
A descriptive code used to identify the type of address secondary range information in the Address Secondary Range field. This code may be useful in address matching, e.g., the secondary address numbers may indicate apartment, suite, or trailer numbers.
Property Name
address_secondary_abbreviation
Type
string
Base Alternate Code
Code that specifies whether a record is a base (preferred) or alternate record. Base records (represented as "B") can represent a range of addresses or an individual address, such as a firm record, while alternate records (represented as "A") are individual delivery points. Base records are generally preferred over alternate records. Government deliveries will only be listed on alternate records with the appropriate government building indicator (federal, state, or city) set.
Property Name
base_alternate_code
Type
string
Possible Values
"A""B"""
Carrier Route ID
A 4 character ID identifying the postal route for the address. The first character indicates the route type. Specifically:
- "B" indicates PO Box
- "H" indicates highway
- "C" indicates city
- "G" indicates general
- "R" indicates rural
Example
R012
Property Name
carrier_route_id
Type
string
Carrier Route Rate Sortation and Merged 5-Digit Indicator
Identifies where automation Carrier Route rates are available and where the commingling of automation and non-automation mail, including Enhanced Carrier Routes and 5-digit presort, on the same pallet or in the same container is allowed.
Property Name
carrier_route_rate_sortation
Type
string
Congressional District Number
A standard value identifying a geographic area within the United States served by a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. If Army/Air Force (APO), Fleet Post Office (FPO), or Diplomatic/Defense Post Office (DPO), this field will be blank. If there is only one member of Congress within a state, the code will be "AL" (at large).
Property Name
congressional_district_number
Finance Number
A code assigned to Postal Service facilities (primarily Post Offices) to collect cost and statistical data and compile revenue and expense data.
Property Name
finance_number
LACS Status Indicator
The Locatable Address Conversion Service (LACS) indicator describes records that have been converted to the LACS system (a product/system in a different USPS® product line that allows mailers to identify and convert a rural route address to a city-style address). Rural route and some city addresses are being modified to city-style addresses so that emergency services (e.g., ambulances, police) can find these addresses more efficiently.
- L = LACS address: The old (usually rural-route) address that has been converted for the LACS system.
- Blank = Not applicable
Property Name
lacs_status_indicator
Type
string
Possible Values
"""L"
Record Type Code
An alphabetic value that identifies the type of data in the record. - G = General delivery (5-Digit ZIP, ZIP + 4, and Carrier Route products) - H = High-rise (ZIP + 4 only) - F = Firm (ZIP + 4 only) - S = Street (5-Digit ZIP, ZIP + 4, and Carrier Route products) - P = PO Box (5-Digit ZIP, ZIP + 4, and Carrier Route products) - R = Rural route/contract (5-Digit ZIP, ZIP + 4, and Carrier Route products) - M = Multi-carrier (Carrier Route product only)
Property Name
record_type_code
Type
string
Possible Values
"G""H""F""S""P""R""M"""
Update Key Number
Field that contains a number that uniquely identifies a record; used to identify the base record to which an add or delete transaction is being directed. The Update Key Number field is used only when applying transactions to the base file; it is not used in address matching and remains fixed for the life of the record. The field is alphanumeric and consists of the database segment code (V1, V2, W1, W2, X1, X2, Y1, Y2, Z1, or Z2) and eight characters containing an alphanumeric value ranging from 00000001 to AAAAAAAA.
Example
00000001
Property Name
update_key_number
Type
string
Urbanization City State Key
An index to the City State file that provides the urbanization name for this delivery range.
Example
V18475
Property Name
urbanization_city_state_key
Type
string
USA Dataset
Identifies the address as sourced from USPS
Property Name
usps_dataset
Type
string
Possible Values
"usps"