Federal Information Processing Standard state code


FIPS state codes were numeric and two-letter alphabetic codes defined in U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard Publication 5-2 to identify U.S. states and certain other associated areas. The standard superseded FIPS PUB 5-1 on May 28, 1987, and was superseded on September 2, 2008, by ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009.
The codes are used in Geographic Names Information System, overseen by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The codes were assigned by NIST and each uniquely identified a state, the District of Columbia, or an outlying area of the U.S.. These codes were used by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Agriculture to form milk-processing plant numbers, some cash registers during check approval, and in the Emergency Alert System.
The FCC assigned additional numeric codes used with the EAS for territorial waters of the U.S., but these were not part of the FIPS standard.
The FIPS state alpha code for each U.S. states and the District of Columbia are identical to the postal abbreviations by the United States Postal Service. From September 3, 1987, the same was true of the alpha code for each of the outlying areas, with the exception of U.S. Minor Outlying Islands as the USPS routes mail for these islands indirectly.
Each of the various minor outlying islands that fell within alpha code UM had an individual numeric code, but no individual alpha code.
On September 2, 2008, FIPS 5-2 was one of ten standards withdrawn by NIST as a Federal Information Processing Standard.

FIPS state codes

The following table enumerates the FIPS state alpha and numeric codes for the states, the District of Columbia, the outlying areas of the United States, the freely associated states, and trust territory, and FIPS state numeric codes for the individual minor outlying island territories.
Only actual U.S. states and the District of Columbia had FIPS state numeric codes in the range 01 through 56.
FIPS PUB 5-1 stated that certain numeric codes "are reserved for possible future use in identifying American Samoa, Canal Zone, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands ", but these codes were omitted from FIPS PUB 5-2 without comment. These areas are marked with a * and highlighted in red in the table below.
For states, the "Status" column in the table below includes a link to a list of the counties for that state including the county codes as defined in FIPS PUB 6-4. The listings of counties for other areas are set out at the end of this article.
NameAlpha codeNumeric codeStatus
AlabamaAL01State; counties
AlaskaAK02State; boroughs
American SamoaAS60Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
American Samoa *03
ArizonaAZ04State; counties
ArkansasAR05State; counties
Baker IslandBI81Minor outlying island territory
CaliforniaCA06State; counties
Canal Zone *07
ColoradoCO08State; counties
ConnecticutCT09State; counties
DelawareDE10State; counties
District of ColumbiaDC11Federal district
FloridaFL12State; counties
Federated States of MicronesiaFM64Freely Associated State
GeorgiaGA13State; counties
Guam *14
GuamGU66Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
HawaiiHI15State; counties
Howland IslandHI84Minor outlying island territory
IdahoID16State; counties
IllinoisIL17State; counties
IndianaIN18State; counties
IowaIA19State; counties
Jarvis IslandJI86Minor outlying island territory
Johnston AtollJA67Minor outlying island territory
KansasKS20State; counties
KentuckyKY21State; counties
Kingman ReefKR89Minor outlying island territory
LouisianaLA22State; parishes
MaineME23State; counties
Marshall IslandsMH68Freely Associated State
MarylandMD24State; counties
MassachusettsMA25State; counties
MichiganMI26State; counties
Midway IslandsMI71Minor outlying island territory
MinnesotaMN27State; counties
MississippiMS28State; counties
MissouriMO29State; counties
MontanaMT30State; counties
Navassa IslandNI76Minor outlying island territory
NebraskaNE31State; counties
NevadaNV32State; counties
New HampshireNH33State; counties
New JerseyNJ34State; counties
New MexicoNM35State; counties
New YorkNY36State; counties
North CarolinaNC37State; counties
North DakotaND38State; counties
Northern Mariana IslandsMP69Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
OhioOH39State; counties
OklahomaOK40State; counties
OregonOR41State; counties
PalauPW70Freely Associated State
Palmyra AtollPA95Minor outlying island territory
PennsylvaniaPA42State; counties
Puerto Rico *43
Puerto RicoPR72Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
Rhode IslandRI44State; counties
South CarolinaSC45State; counties
South DakotaSD46State; counties
TennesseeTN47State; counties
TexasTX48State; counties
U.S. Minor Outlying IslandsUM74Minor outlying island territories
UtahUT49State; counties
VermontVT50State; counties
VirginiaVA51State; counties
Virgin Islands of the U.S. *52
Virgin Islands of the U.S.VI78Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
Wake IslandWI79Minor outlying island territory
WashingtonWA53State; counties
West VirginiaWV54State; counties
WisconsinWI55State; counties
WyomingWY56State; counties

County codes

Supplemental codes for maritime areas

The Emergency Alert System and the weather radio service provided by NOAA use these codes to supplement FIPS PUB 5-2 to include certain maritime areas.
EAS codeMaritime area
57Pacific coast from Washington to California
58Alaskan coast
59Hawaiian coast
61American Samoa waters
65Mariana Islands waters
73Atlantic coast from Maine to Virginia
75Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Florida, and the coasts of Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands
77Gulf of Mexico
91Lake Superior
92Lake Michigan
93Lake Huron
94St. Clair River, Detroit River, and Lake St. Clair
96Lake Erie
97Niagara River and Lake Ontario
98St. Lawrence River