Do you always put a comma between city and state

If the state does not come at the end of the sentence, use a comma to separate it from the rest of the sentence.

My wife went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, last week.

My wife went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania last week.

When adding a date or time interval to a location, bear also in mind the use of commas with dates.

I lived in Chicago, Illinois, from November 13, 2018 to March 27, 2020.

Recommended: How to punctuate adverbs of place

2. Complete Address

A complete address usually has five parts:

1. street address
2. apartment or suite number
3. city
4. state
5. zip code

We use a comma to separate the first four elements (street, apartment, city, and state). We do not insert a comma between the state and the zip code.

The address is 2717 Stark Street, Apt. 3B, Portland, Oregon 97202.

If using a person's name in front of the address, add a comma after the name.

Oliver Smith, 53663 Bee Cave Rd, Austin, Texas 78746.

When using three lines to write an address (e.g., at the top of a letter or on a package), do not use commas between the lines.

Olivia Miller
3123 Madison Street, Apt. 1B
San Francisco, California 94107

You can also indicate the country at the end of the address. Use a comma to separate it from the zip code.

Minilesson Print

Using Commas in Dates and Addresses

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Your Turn Read the comma rules. Then read the paragraph, which needs commas in dates and addresses. Write each date and address with correct commas, or print the lesson to mark your corrections.

Comma Rules:

1. When a month, day, and year are listed, place a comma between the day and year: July 22, 2018.
2. If the month, day, and year come in the middle of a sentence, place another comma after the year: I will celebrate July 22, 2018, as my birthday.
3. In an address, place a comma after the street and between the city and state:
   1714 North Harvey Street, Griffith, IN 46300.
4. Do not place a comma between the state and the ZIP code.
5. If the address comes in the middle of a sentence, place another comma after the address: My family has lived at 1714 North Harvey Street, Griffith, Indiana, for four years.

• Happy Birthday, U.S.A.

  

• Happy Birthday, U.S.A. (corrected)

  

Chicago Manual of Style devotes 16 pages to the correct usage of the comma. I’m sure you’re familiar with its use with coordinate adjectives, transitional adverbs, appositive clauses, and participial phrases. I won’t insult you by repeating that information here. Instead, here are the most common errors in comma usage spotted around the Web.

Omitting a comma after city and state

When writing the name of a city followed by its state, most writers know to include the comma between the two, but often overlook the comma that’s required after the state name. Here’s how to punctuate a city, state combo correctly:

He knew he was washed up in Bath, Maine, when his show was scrubbed.

Show me the St. Louis, Missouri, map.

Omitting a comma after city and country

When writing a city name followed by the country, separate them with a comma, like this:

He got plastered in Paris, France, and broiled in London, England, last week

Omitting a comma after a month-day-year date

A complete date (consisting of a month, day, and year) requires a comma after the day and after the year.

She left the bank in Paris on July 1, 2008, for a job in Teller, Alaska.

Remember: If there’s a comma before the year, put a comma after the year.

Including a comma between a month and year

If you’re writing just a month and year (without a day), don’t separate them with a comma. And don’t include a comma after the year.

Her daughter April may return in June 2009 for the reunion.

Placing a comma outside quotation marks

Put a comma that follows a closing quotation mark inside the quote (in other words, before the ending quotation mark).

Her favorite movies are “First Wives Club,” “The Second Time Around,” and “The Last King of Scotland.”

How do you write city and state in a sentence?

Do you put a comma before the city?