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Americas · US
Shipping label for the United States
Fill in the recipient, print at 100 × 150 mm, and the locality lines come out in the order USPS expects.
United States address format: how a local address is written
Recipient name first, then the street line, then the locality. In the United States the locality line reads: City, then state abbreviation, then postal code, all on one line.
- Address layout
- City, then state abbreviation, then postal code, all on one line.
- Postal code
- 10001
- Code format
- Five digits.
- State or province
- Part of the address
- Country line
- UNITED STATES
- Local script
- Latin alphabet
- Currency
- USD
- Dialling code
- +1
- Customs status
- Outside the EU
Addresses in the United States are written in the Latin alphabet: copy the street line exactly as the recipient gave it.
Local conventions worth getting right in United States
USPS asks for the whole address in capitals with no punctuation, which is what its scanners read most reliably. Use the two letter state code without full stops, one space between the city and the state, and two spaces between the state and the ZIP. The extra four digits of a ZIP+4 attach with a hyphen, as in 10001-2345.
If nobody is home when the parcel reaches United States
A missed USPS delivery leaves PS Form 3849, and the carrier writes a return date on it: that is the day the clerk pulls the item off the shelf, not a rough estimate. Fifteen days is the usual hold, though it runs from five to thirty depending on the service, so the date on the slip is the only figure worth quoting to a buyer. Redelivery can be scheduled online without visiting the office, which is normally the fastest route once a US customer has the slip in hand.
Worked example: a parcel arriving in New York
Sarah Whitfield 27 Weaver Street NEW YORK NY 10001 UNITED STATES
The last line is the destination country in English capitals, so the exporting post office can sort the item without reading the local script.
The United States uses postal codes. A valid one looks like 10001, the code for New York.
The national postal operator is USPS.
A state or province is part of a United States address; a parcel without one can be delayed or returned. The example above shows where it belongs.
Generate a label for the United States
The destination is already set to the United States. The CN22 customs block appears on its own whenever the route needs one.
Shipment details
An address and handling label, not a carrier label: no postage, no tracking number. The barcode is your own order reference. Print it and add the carrier’s own label at drop-off.
Live label
This parcel needs a CN22 and this template has no room to print one. Switch to the portrait or landscape template, or attach the declaration to the parcel separately.
| - | 0.00 CAD |
| HS code: - · CA | 1.4 kg |
Ink on white, always. That is what a thermal printer gives you.
Set your print dialog to “Save as PDF” and margins to none. Firefox and Safari ignore the page size a web page asks for, so pick the matching paper there by hand.
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Label history
No labels yet.
Customs status
The United States is outside the EU customs union, so every inbound parcel needs a customs declaration: a CN22 on the label itself below roughly 300 SDR, a CN23 on a separate sheet above it.
Track a parcel to United States
Have a tracking number for a parcel to the United States? Paste it here and Labelbench opens the carrier’s page with it filled in.
Inbound items are usually delivered by USPS on the last leg, whichever carrier collected them.
Opens in a new tab. Your number goes to the carrier, not to us.
Sending to the United States from abroad
Once the parcel crosses a border, the last address line must read UNITED STATES in Latin capitals and a customs declaration is required, unless the route stays inside the EU customs union.
Sending inside the United States
For a domestic parcel, drop the country line and the customs block. Everything else on the label stays the same.
Straight answers · United States
What this does, and what it does not
Is this an official postal label for the United States?
No, and no website can produce one. A carrier label carries a tracking number only USPS or a courier can issue against your account. This is an address and handling label: print it, tape it to the box, and add the carrier’s tracking label beside it at drop-off.
Does a parcel sent to the United States need a customs form?
Only if the parcel starts in a different country. Domestic shipments inside the United States need no customs paperwork. For inbound international parcels, a CN22 is required below roughly 300 SDR and is added to the label automatically; heavier or more valuable consignments need a CN23 on a separate sheet.
Can I write the address in Latin alphabet?
Addresses in the United States are written in the Latin alphabet: copy the street line exactly as the recipient gave it.
Guides for shipping to United States
The format is only part of it: customs paperwork and handling are what send parcels back.
Shipping internationally from the United States
Letter-size printing, customs forms, APO/FPO, and addressing for outbound US parcels.
How to address an APO, FPO or DPO parcel
Looks domestic, is not. The rules that keep military mail out of foreign networks.
How to fill in a CN22 customs form
Every box explained, plus the three entries that get parcels stopped.
Declared value: what to write, and who pays the duty
What goes in the value box, and who gets the bill at the other end.