Rural Route and Highway Contract Addresses

Address basics  |  April 5, 2026  |  2 min read

In rural areas, mail has long been delivered along routes rather than to numbered streets. Two older formats still appear in databases and on forms.

Rural route addresses

A rural route address names the route and the box number: RR 2 BOX 152. USPS prefers "RR" and discourages words like "Rural Route" or "RFD".

Highway contract addresses

Highway contract routes are served by contractors rather than postal employees. They are written as HC 68 BOX 23A.

Why many were converted

Since the 1990s, many counties have assigned street names and numbers to rural homes so emergency responders can find them. As part of this 911 addressing work, many RR and HC addresses have been replaced with standard street addresses. Old records may still use the route format.

Testing tips

If your customers live in rural areas, make sure your forms accept addresses with no street suffix and with "BOX" in the delivery line. Check that PO Box detection logic does not block rural route boxes, which are real delivery locations.