A two-digit Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code (FIPS 5-2) uniquely identifies a state, territory, or commonwealth within or of the U.S.. These codes are used by the U.S. Census Bureau, by the Department of Agriculture to form milk-processing plant numbers, and in the Emergency Alert System, and were assigned by NIST. Additional numbers used with the EAS for territorial waters of the U.S. were assigned by the FCC, but are not part of the FIPS standard. Two-letter state codes are used as postal abbreviations by the USPS with the exception of UM which it does not use. The various minor outlying islands have a second two digit code besides the one used for them as a group.
Codes 03, 07, 14, 43, and 52 in the above table were formerly used for the certain territories, but some users found it difficult to separate them out from the States as a result so they were reassigned codes higher up in the system.
| Obsolete Code | Revised Code | Territory, or commonwealth |
|---|---|---|
| 03 | 60 | American Samoa |
| 07 | Canal Zone | |
| 14 | 66 | Guam |
| 43 | 72 | Puerto Rico |
| 52 | 78 | Virgin Islands of the U.S. |
The following codes for maritime areas are used by the Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weatherradio and are unlikely to be used otherwise by FIPS.
| EAS Code | Maritime Area | |
|---|---|---|
| 57 | Pacific Ocean Washington to California | |
| 58 | Alaskan coast | |
| 59 | Hawaiian coast | |
| 61 | American Samoa waters | |
| 65 | Mariana Islands waters (including Guam) | |
| 73 | Atlantic Ocean Maine to Virginia | |
| 75 | Atlantic Ocean North Carolina to Florida, 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 | 99 |
| The Great Salt Lake |