Federal Information Processing Standard state code explained

FIPS state codes were numeric and two-letter alphabetic codes defined in U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard Publication ("FIPS PUB") 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 The standard superseded FIPS PUB 5-1 on May 28, 1987, and was superseded on September 2, 2008, by ANSI standard INCITS 38:2009.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 (EAS).

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 (UM) 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On September 2, 2008, FIPS 5-2 was one of ten standards withdrawn by NIST as a Federal Information Processing Standard.^[1]

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FIPS PUB 5-1 (published on June 15, 1970, and superseded by FIPS PUB 5-2 on May 28, 1987) stated that certain numeric codes "are reserved for possible future use in identifying American Samoa (03), Canal Zone (07), Guam (14), Puerto Rico (43), and Virgin Islands (52)", 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.^[2]

For states, the "Status" column in the table below includes a link to a list of the counties (boroughs and census areas in Alaska; parishes in Louisiana) 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.

Name	Alpha code	Numeric code	Status
	AL	01	State; counties
	AK	02	State; boroughs
	AS	60	Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
American Samoa * || || 03 || (FIPS 5-1 reserved code)|- align="center"| Arizona || AZ || 04 || State; counties|- align="center"|Arkansas || AR || 05 || State; counties|- align="center"|Baker Island ||BI| 81 || Minor outlying island territory|- align="center"|California || CA || 06 || State; counties|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| Canal Zone * || || 07 || (FIPS 5-1 reserved code)|- align="center"|Colorado || CO || 08 || State; counties|- align="center"|Connecticut || CT || 09 || State; counties|- align="center"|Delaware || DE || 10 || State; counties|- align="center"|District of Columbia || DC || 11 || Federal district^[3] |- align="center"|Florida || FL || 12 || State; counties|- align="center"|Federated States of Micronesia || FM || 64 || Freely Associated State|- align="center"|Georgia || GA || 13 || State; counties|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| Guam *		14	(FIPS 5-1 reserved code)
	GU	66	Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
	HI	15	State; counties
	HI	84	Minor outlying island territory
	ID	16	State; counties
	IL	17	State; counties
	IN	18	State; counties
	IA	19	State; counties
	JI	86	Minor outlying island territory
	JA	67	Minor outlying island territory
	KS	20	State; counties
	KY	21	State; counties
	KR	89	Minor outlying island territory
	LA	22	State; parishes
	ME	23	State; counties
	MH	68	Freely Associated State
	MD	24	State; counties
	MA	25	State; counties
	MI	26	State; counties
	MI	71	Minor outlying island territory
	MN	27	State; counties
	MS	28	State; counties
	MO	29	State; counties
	MT	30	State; counties
	NI	76	Minor outlying island territory
	NE	31	State; counties
	NV	32	State; counties
	NH	33	State; counties
	NJ	34	State; counties
	NM	35	State; counties
	NY	36	State; counties
	NC	37	State; counties
	ND	38	State; counties
	MP	69	Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty
	OH	39	State; counties
	OK	40	State; counties
	OR	41	State; counties
	PW	70	Freely Associated State
	PA	95	Minor outlying island territory
	PA	42	State; counties
Puerto Rico * || || 43 || (FIPS 5-1 reserved code)|- align="center"|Puerto Rico || PR || 72 || Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty|- align="center"|Rhode Island || RI || 44 || State; counties|- align="center"|South Carolina || SC || 45 || State; counties|- align="center"|South Dakota || SD || 46 || State; counties|- align="center"|Tennessee || TN || 47 || State; counties|- align="center"|Texas || TX || 48 || State; counties|- align="center"|U.S. Minor Outlying Islands || UM || 74 || Minor outlying island territories (aggregated)|- align="center"|Utah || UT || 49 || State; counties|- align="center"|Vermont || VT || 50 || State; counties|- align="center"|Virginia || VA || 51 || State; counties|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| Virgin Islands of the U.S. * || || 52 || (FIPS 5-1 reserved code)|- align="center"|Virgin Islands of the U.S. || VI || 78 || Outlying area under U.S. sovereignty|- align="center"|Wake Island ||WI| 79 || Minor outlying island territory|- align="center"|Washington || WA || 53 || State; counties|- align="center"|West Virginia || WV || 54 || State; counties|- align="center"|Wisconsin || WI || 55 || State; counties|- align="center"|Wyoming || WY || 56 || State; counties|} County codes See main article: List of United States FIPS codes by county. Supplemental codes for maritime areas The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the weather radio service provided by NOAA use these codes to supplement FIPS PUB 5-2 to include certain maritime areas.^[4] EAS code Maritime area 57 Pacific coast from Washington to California 58 Alaskan coast 59 Hawaiian coast 61 American Samoa waters 65 Mariana Islands waters (including Guam) 73 Atlantic coast from Maine to Virginia 75 Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Florida, and the coasts of Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands 77 Gulf of Mexico 91 Lake Superior 92 Lake Michigan 93 Lake Huron 94 St. Clair River, Detroit River, and Lake St. Clair 96 Lake Erie 97 Niagara River and Lake Ontario 98 St. Lawrence River See also FIPS PUB 10-4 international region codes External links Web site: Domestic Names - State and Topical Gazetteer Download Files. 30 Jun 2009. U.S. Board on Geographic Names. 2009-07-01.

Notes and References

1. National Institute of Standards and Technology . National Institute of Standards and Technology . Announcing Approval of the Withdrawal of Ten Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) . . 73 . 51276 . September 2, 2008 .
2. Web site: States and Outlying Areas of the United States (FIPS PUB 5-1). June 15, 1970 . U.S. Government Printing Office. . 2009-07-01.
3. The federal district of the United States has one city, the City of Washington, which is coterminous with the single county, District of Columbia County
4. Web site: CFR Title 47 PART 11 Subpart B § 11.31: EAS protocol. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. September 2, 2016. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2016-09-02.