How to Write a US Address from the UK (Format, ZIP, Apartment Number)

Short answer: a US address from the UK uses five lines — recipient, street address, apartment/suite (optional), city + 2-letter state code + ZIP, then UNITED STATES. The format is unforgiving — getting it wrong causes delays, return-to-sender, or extra customs handling charges.

Here’s exactly how to write a US address that clears customs first time and gets to your buyer’s door.

The Standard US Address Format

Five lines, in this exact order:

RECIPIENT NAME
HOUSE NUMBER + STREET NAME + STREET TYPE
APARTMENT OR SUITE (IF APPLICABLE)
CITY, STATE-CODE ZIP-CODE
UNITED STATES

A real example:

SARAH JONES
1234 MAIN STREET
APT 5B
NEW YORK, NY 10001
UNITED STATES

USPS officially recommends ALL CAPS, no punctuation, but lowercase still works in 2026. The key things that must be right:

• Two-letter state code (NY, not New York)
• 5-digit ZIP code (10001, not 10001-2345 — the +4 is optional)
• “UNITED STATES” as the country line — not “USA”, not “America”

The Five Essential Components

1. Recipient name

Full name as given by your buyer. Match the order — don’t shorten “Samuel” to “Sam”. Apartment doormen check ID.

2. Street address

House number + street name + street type abbreviation:

• Street → ST
• Avenue → AVE
• Boulevard → BLVD
• Drive → DR
• Road → RD
• Lane → LN
• Court → CT

Numbered streets stay as numbers (e.g. “12TH ST”, not “TWELFTH STREET”).

3. Apartment / suite (when applicable)

• Apartment → APT 5B (own line)
• Suite → STE 200
• Unit → UNIT 4
• Building → BLDG 3
• Floor → FL 12

Avoid the # symbol — older sortation systems strip it and the package ends up undeliverable.

4. City, State, ZIP

All on one line, comma after city, two-letter state code, ZIP code:

LOS ANGELES, CA 90028
HOUSTON, TX 77002
CHICAGO, IL 60601

5. Country

“UNITED STATES” or “USA” — both work, but UNITED STATES is the safer international standard.

US State Two-Letter Codes — The Common Ones

Full list: USPS Publication 28, Appendix B.

Common UK-Sender Mistakes

After watching thousands of UK-to-US shipments, the recurring errors:

1. Putting the ZIP at the end of the city line (“New York 10001, NY”) — wrong order, scanners fail
2. Using “New York City” as the city — it’s just “NEW YORK”
3. Writing the state in full (“New York” instead of “NY”) — works but slows processing
4. Missing the apartment number entirely — the parcel reaches the building lobby and gets returned
5. Using “Postcode” or “Zip” as a label — just write the number
6. Putting “England” or “UK” anywhere — only the destination country goes on a US address
7. Treating NYC boroughs as cities — it’s NEW YORK, NY for everything in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island (their respective ZIPs differentiate them)

Apartment Buildings Without Doormen

Many US apartment buildings don’t have doormen, and parcels delivered to walk-up addresses can be left in lobbies or on stoops. Two precautions:

• Add a phone number to the customs declaration — UPS and FedEx call when no answer
• Encourage UPS My Choice signup so the recipient can redirect or hold at an Access Point

For high-value items, signature on delivery is worth the £3 to £4 surcharge.

Suite Numbers — Office Buildings and Co-Working

Commercial addresses often have more components:

SARAH JONES
ACME CORP
123 MAIN ST
STE 4500
NEW YORK, NY 10018
UNITED STATES

Include the company name as the second line. Building security signs for parcels at the loading dock — without the company name, the receiving desk has no idea who it’s for.

PO Boxes — UPS Can’t Deliver

If your buyer gives you a PO Box address (PO BOX 123, CITYNAME, ST ZIP), you cannot use UPS, FedEx, or DHL. They can only deliver to physical street addresses.

For PO Box deliveries, route via:

• Royal Mail PDDP (cheapest option)
• USPS Priority Mail International through your carrier

TradeWind auto-routes PO Box addresses to Royal Mail PDDP — you don’t have to remember.

The Five Most-Confused Address Components

A quick lookup table for the common abbreviations:

The Bottom Line

A US address from the UK = recipient + street + (apartment/suite) + city, state code, ZIP + UNITED STATES. Use two-letter state codes, five-digit ZIPs, and put apartment numbers on their own line. Don’t use the # symbol, don’t write the state in full, and never put a UK postcode anywhere on it.

Whether you’re using TradeWind for parcel labels or running B2B shipments to the US, the address format is the same. Getting it right at booking saves hours of customer-service work later.

Sources

• USPS Publication 28 — Postal Addressing Standards
• USPS ZIP Code Lookup