AP style numbers, dates, times and percent: the complete cheat sheet
By MubarakUpdated 13 min read
Short answer:
AP style spells out one through nine and uses figures for 10 and up. The main exceptions: ages, percentages (5%), money ($5), times (9 a.m.), dates (Nov. 6), dimensions, speeds, temperatures and scores always take figures. Spell out any number that starts a sentence, unless it's a year.
AP style is the set of writing and editing rules published by The Associated Press in the AP Stylebook, the standard reference for U.S. news writing. This page covers only numbers, dates, times and places. For punctuation, titles and the rest, see the AP style guide. Rules reflect the 58th edition (2026). All examples are invented.
Numbers: the basic rule
| Rule | Example |
|---|---|
| One through nine: words | three reporters, nine days |
| 10 and up: figures | 10 days, 47 votes, 1,200 readers |
| Start of a sentence: words | Forty-seven people voted. |
| ...except years | 2026 was the hottest year on record. |
| Casual uses: words | Thanks a million. He walked a hundred yards. |
| Ordinals first to ninth: words | first place, ninth grade |
| Ordinals 10th and up: figures | 10th anniversary, 21st century |
| Political and geographic ordinals: figures | 1st Ward, 9th Circuit, 5th District |
| Commas from 1,000 up | 1,200; 35,000 |
| No commas in years, addresses, phone and room numbers | 2026; 1200 Main St.; Room 1012 |
| Millions and billions: figure plus word | 3 million people, 1.5 billion users |
If a sentence would start with a long number, rewrite it: "Voters cast 1,247 ballots" beats "One thousand two hundred forty-seven ballots were cast."
Numbers that always take figures
| Category | AP form | Not |
|---|---|---|
| Ages | a 4-year-old, she is 4 | a four-year-old |
| Percentages | 4% | four percent |
| Money | $4, 4 cents | four dollars |
| Times | 4 p.m. | four p.m. |
| Dates | Oct. 4 | Oct. fourth |
| Dimensions and weights | 4 feet tall, a 4-pound baby | four feet tall |
| Speeds | 4 mph | four mph |
| Temperatures | 4 degrees | four degrees |
| Scores and votes | won 4-2; a 5-4 ruling | won four to two |
| Ratios and odds | a 2-to-1 ratio, 3-1 odds | two-to-one |
| Rankings | No. 4 | number four |
| Sizes and models | size 4, a Boeing 737 | size four |
Distances follow the basic rule: "three miles," "12 miles."
Fractions and decimals
- Spell out amounts under one, with hyphens: two-thirds, three-quarters.
- Use figures for precise amounts over one: 2 1/2 (put a space between the whole number and the fraction).
- Use figures for decimals: 0.6, 3.75. Use a zero before the point for numbers under one.
Dates and months in AP style
| Rule | Right | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. with a specific date | Sept. 30 | September 30 |
| Never abbreviate March, April, May, June, July | June 4 | Jun. 4 |
| No ordinal endings | Oct. 3 | Oct. 3rd |
| Month alone or with a year: spell out, no comma | September 2026 | Sept., 2026 |
| Full date: commas around the year | Nov. 6, 2026, was a Friday. | Nov. 6 2026 was |
| Days of the week: never abbreviated in text | Thursday | Thurs. |
| Within seven days of today: use the day | The vote is Thursday. | The vote is Nov. 12. |
| More than seven days away: use the date | The vote is Dec. 15. | The vote is Tuesday after next. |
| Decades | the 1990s, the '90s | the 1990's, the 90's |
| Centuries | the 21st century, the first century | the twenty-first century |
| Date ranges | Nov. 6-8; from Nov. 6 to Nov. 8 | from Nov. 6-8 |
| Ranges across months | Nov. 30-Dec. 2 | November 30th-December 2nd |
| Seasons and years | the 2025-26 season | the 2025-2026 season |
| Era abbreviations | A.D. 70; 500 B.C. | 70 A.D. |
The months, with their AP forms when a date follows:
| Month | With a date | Month | With a date |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Jan. 5 | July | July 5 |
| February | Feb. 5 | August | Aug. 5 |
| March | March 5 | September | Sept. 5 |
| April | April 5 | October | Oct. 5 |
| May | May 5 | November | Nov. 5 |
| June | June 5 | December | Dec. 5 |
A memory aid: the months of five letters or fewer (March, April, May, June, July) are never abbreviated.
Times: a.m., p.m., noon and midnight
| Rule | Right | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Figures, lowercase a.m. and p.m. with periods | 9 a.m., 7 p.m. | 9 AM, 7pm, 7 P.M. |
| No ":00" on the hour | 7 p.m. | 7:00 p.m. |
| Colon for minutes | 3:30 p.m. | 3.30 p.m. |
| Noon and midnight in words, no 12 | noon, midnight | 12 noon, 12 p.m., 12 a.m. |
| No redundancy | 10 a.m. Tuesday | 10 a.m. Tuesday morning |
| No redundancy | 8 p.m. today | 8 p.m. tonight |
| Ranges | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 9-11 a.m.; noon-3 p.m. | 9-5 |
| Order: time, day, place | at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall | on Tuesday at City Hall at 7 p.m. |
| Time zones after the time | 3 p.m. EDT; noon Pacific time | EDT 3 p.m. |
Midnight belongs to the day that is ending: a deadline of "midnight Friday" falls at the end of Friday. If readers could misread it, write "11:59 p.m. Friday."
Percent in AP style
AP announced on March 29, 2019, that the % sign is acceptable with a figure in most cases. Before that, AP wrote "5 percent." Any cheat sheet that still says "percent" with a figure is out of date.
| Rule | Right | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| % with a figure, no space | 5%, 12.5% | 5 percent, 5 % |
| Decimals under 1 | 0.6% | .6% |
| Repeat the sign in a range | 10% to 30% | 10 to 30% |
| Start of a sentence: spell out both | Eighty percent of voters agreed. | 80% of voters agreed. |
| Casual uses: spell out | a zero percent chance | a 0% chance |
| Change between two percentages | rose 2 percentage points, from 4% to 6% | rose 2%, from 4% to 6% |
The last row is a meaning error, not just a style error. A rise from 4% to 6% is 2 percentage points, but a 50% increase in the rate. Say which you mean.
Money
| Rule | Right | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Dollar sign and figures | $5, $1,500 | five dollars |
| No ".00" | $5 | $5.00 |
| Cents in words, figure for the amount | 5 cents | $0.05, five cents |
| Millions and billions | $3 million, $2.5 billion | $3,000,000; $2.5 Billion |
| Up to two decimal places | $7.55 million | $7.5523 million |
| Repeat the unit in a range | $5 million to $6 million | $5 to $6 million |
| Casual uses | a few dollars, a million reasons | $ few |
Ages
AP always uses figures for ages of people and animals.
| Use | Right | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective before a noun: hyphens | a 7-year-old girl | a seven year old girl |
| Noun substitute: hyphens | The 7-year-old won. | The seven-year-old won. |
| After a verb: no hyphens | She is 7 years old. | She is 7-years-old. |
| Set off by commas after a name | Mia Torres, 7, won. | Mia Torres, age 7, won. |
| Decades of age: no apostrophe | in her 30s | in her 30's, in her thirties |
| Ranges | ages 18 to 24 | ages eighteen to twenty-four |
Heights, measurements, speeds and temperatures
| Category | Right |
|---|---|
| Height as adjective | the 5-foot-6 guard |
| Height after a verb | He is 5 feet 6 inches tall. |
| Length | The table is 9 feet long. a 9-foot table |
| Area | a 9-by-12 rug |
| Weight | an 8-pound baby; the package weighed 8 pounds |
| Speed | 7 mph; winds of 40 mph (mph is fine in all references) |
| Temperature | a high of 72; minus 10 (not -10); zero |
| Temperature ranges | highs in the 30s (no apostrophe) |
States, cities and datelines
Since May 1, 2014, AP spells out state names in the body of stories. Use the abbreviations below only in datelines, photo captions, tables, lists, editor's notes and short party affiliations (D-Ill., R-Mont.). AP abbreviations are not postal codes. Use postal codes only in a full mailing address.
AP state abbreviations
| State | AP | Postal | State | AP | Postal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Ala. | AL | Montana | Mont. | MT |
| Arizona | Ariz. | AZ | Nebraska | Neb. | NE |
| Arkansas | Ark. | AR | Nevada | Nev. | NV |
| California | Calif. | CA | New Hampshire | N.H. | NH |
| Colorado | Colo. | CO | New Jersey | N.J. | NJ |
| Connecticut | Conn. | CT | New Mexico | N.M. | NM |
| Delaware | Del. | DE | New York | N.Y. | NY |
| Florida | Fla. | FL | North Carolina | N.C. | NC |
| Georgia | Ga. | GA | North Dakota | N.D. | ND |
| Illinois | Ill. | IL | Oklahoma | Okla. | OK |
| Indiana | Ind. | IN | Oregon | Ore. | OR |
| Kansas | Kan. | KS | Pennsylvania | Pa. | PA |
| Kentucky | Ky. | KY | Rhode Island | R.I. | RI |
| Louisiana | La. | LA | South Carolina | S.C. | SC |
| Maryland | Md. | MD | South Dakota | S.D. | SD |
| Massachusetts | Mass. | MA | Tennessee | Tenn. | TN |
| Michigan | Mich. | MI | Vermont | Vt. | VT |
| Minnesota | Minn. | MN | Virginia | Va. | VA |
| Mississippi | Miss. | MS | Washington | Wash. | WA |
| Missouri | Mo. | MO | West Virginia | W.Va. | WV |
| Wisconsin | Wis. | WI | |||
| Wyoming | Wyo. | WY |
Never abbreviated, anywhere: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Utah.
Cities that stand alone
These U.S. cities need no state in datelines or in text: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington.
Datelines
A dateline opens a news story with the city it was reported from: the city in capital letters, the state abbreviation if the city doesn't stand alone, then a dash.
DAYTON, Ohio — The city council voted 5-4 on Thursday to ...
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State lawmakers approved ...
DENVER — A spring storm dropped 14 inches of snow ...
Inside the story, use the full state name: "Dayton, Ohio," "Springfield, Illinois."
Practice quiz: 10 AP style number questions
Fix each sentence, then check the answers below.
- The meeting starts at 7:00 PM on Tuesday.
- 15 people were hurt.
- Sales rose five percent in October.
- The bill costs $3,500,000.
- She has a six-year-old son.
- The deadline is January 15th, 2027.
- Doors open at 12 noon.
- He moved to Boise, ID, in the 1990's.
- The rate climbed from 3% to 5%, a rise of 2%.
- The festival runs from Aug. 14-16 in Austin, TX.
Answers
- The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday. (No ":00," lowercase p.m. with periods, and "on" isn't needed before the day.)
- Fifteen people were hurt. (Spell out at the start of a sentence.)
- Sales rose 5% in October. (Figure and % sign since 2019.)
- The bill costs $3.5 million.
- She has a 6-year-old son. (Ages are always figures.)
- The deadline is Jan. 15, 2027. (Abbreviate January with a date; no "th.")
- Doors open at noon.
- He moved to Boise, Idaho, in the 1990s. (Idaho is never abbreviated; no apostrophe in decades.)
- The rate climbed from 3% to 5%, a rise of 2 percentage points.
- The festival runs Aug. 14-16 in Austin, Texas. (Drop "from" with a hyphenated range, or write "from Aug. 14 to 16"; spell out the state in text.)
Scored 10 out of 10? Then test a full paragraph: our AP style checker comparison has a 300-word test with 20 planted errors and an answer key.
Checking numbers in a draft
Numbers are the easiest AP errors to find by search. Before filing, search the draft for %, "percent," :00, "AM," "PM," every month name, st, nd, rd and th after figures, and two-letter state codes. If you write in WriteOrbit, the AI proofreading pass leaves issues as comments in the text and an editor can make AP fixes as tracked suggestions, but it has no dedicated AP rule engine, so this search pass still matters. See pricing for what the free plan includes.
FAQ
Does AP style spell out numbers?
Only one through nine, in general. AP style uses words for one through nine and figures for 10 and up. Ages, percentages, money, times, dates, dimensions, speeds, temperatures and scores always take figures, even under 10. Any number that starts a sentence is spelled out, except a year.
How do you write dates in AP style?
Use figures without st, nd, rd or th. With a specific date, abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec., and always spell out March, April, May, June and July: Nov. 6, 2026. With a month and year only, spell out the month and drop the comma: November 2026.
How does AP style write a.m. and p.m.?
Lowercase with periods, after a figure: 9 a.m., 3:30 p.m. Leave off ":00" on the hour. Use noon and midnight instead of 12 p.m. and 12 a.m. Avoid redundancies such as "10 a.m. this morning." For ranges, write 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or 9-11 a.m. within the same half of the day.
Does AP style use the percent sign?
Yes, since 2019. AP style uses the % sign with a figure and no space in most cases: 5%, 0.6%. Spell out "percent" only in casual uses such as "a zero percent chance," and spell out both the number and the word at the start of a sentence: "Eighty percent of voters ..."
Does AP style abbreviate state names?
Not in the body of a story. Since 2014, AP spells out state names in text. It uses its own abbreviations, such as Calif. and Tenn., not postal codes, in datelines, photo captions, tables, lists and party affiliations. Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah are never abbreviated.
Keep going
Numbers are one part of AP style. The AP style guide covers the other rules editors fix most, from the Oxford comma to job titles and AI terms. To run a check on your own copy, use the test paragraph and AI prompt in AP style checkers compared.
Sources
- The Associated Press, AP Stylebook: https://www.apstylebook.com/
- Poynter, "AP says the percentage sign is now OK when used with a numeral" (March 29, 2019): https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2019/ap-says-the-percentage-sign-now-ok-when-used-with-a-numeral-thats-shift5/
- Poynter, "AP's year of freaking out language geeks" (state names in stories, effective May 1, 2014): https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2014/aps-year-of-freaking-out-language-geeks/
- Purdue OWL, "AP Style" (numbers, dates, addresses, states, standalone cities): https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/journalism_and_journalistic_writing/ap_style.html
- ACES: The Society for Editing, "AP announces Stylebook changes; healthcare tops list" (58th edition, 2026): https://aceseditors.org/2026/04/24/ap-announces-stylebook-changes-healthcare-tops-list/