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Address standardization takes your street addresses and puts them in a known format, correcting spelling of street and city names, correcting and adding ZIP + 4 and postal codes, and substituting standard abbreviations to conform with the United States Postal Service's addressing standards.  Standardization also improves data quality, which can help in obtaining lower bulk mailing rates.

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Benefits
  • Validates and corrects U.S. addresses for accuracy
  • Appends ZIP + 4 carrier route and delivery point codes
  • Standardizes to USPS specs for automated mailings

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elements of a Street Address
The following is a breakdown of the key elements that make up a typical street address.  Please note that the U.S. Postal Service has developed addressing standards that include capitalization, punctuation, and abbreviation of addresses.  While the examples below adhere to those standards, they are only a subset of what is available in the Postal Service standards.
  • Street number (3186 PILOT KNOB RD)
    The street number is typically an integer value, but it may also include alpha characters (e.g., 142A or 216 1/2). How these addresses will be located depends upon your geocoding software.
     
  • Prefix direction (156 E 18TH ST)
    The location of a direction designation may vary within an address.  Some software products require the directional field to be placed in the prefix position and others in the suffix position in order to ensure the best results in address matching. (e.g., N 1ST AVE or 1ST AVE N).
    USPS street direction standard abbreviations: N, S, E, W, NE, SE, NW, SW
     
  • Street name (3334 CEDAR AVE)
    Care should be taken to ensure that street names are not abbreviated or misspelled.  In some cases streets may be known by more than one name.  In these cases an alias or cross reference may be needed.  Streets with numeric names may need to be entered as 1ST ST rather than FIRST ST.
     
  • Street type (3334 CEDAR AVE)
    Street types need to be entered using USPS recommended abbreviations.
     
  • Suffix direction (1200 34TH ST W)
    (see prefix direction)
     
  • Unit Number (14955 GALAXIE AVE STE 300)
    Some common unit designators are APT (Apartment), STE (Suite), DEPT (Department), and the # sign.
     
  • City (MINNEAPOLIS MN 55406)
    Spell city names in their entirety when possible.  When it is not possible, use the 13-character abbreviations from the USPS City State file.
     
  • State (MINNEAPOLIS MN 55406)
    Use two-letter USPS state abbreviations.
     
  • Zip Code (MINNEAPOLIS MN 55406)
    Zip Code or Zip+4 number.

 
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