Should I Put My Address on My Resume? Pros, Cons, and Tips

Understanding the Significance of Your Address on a Resume

Putting addresses on resumes used to be standard practice. Employers typically contacted job seekers through their address or phone number, making it a necessary piece of contact information.

In the modern era, this information isn’t strictly required anymore. Employers have many ways to contact applicants, such as through email, video calls, and social media. Further, your location doesn’t usually factor into remote positions, which are increasingly common.

Including your address on resumes also presents certain disadvantages, such as privacy concerns and identity theft.

However, this doesn’t mean it’s a firm “no,” as there are also potential benefits to including your address, depending on the role. For example, if the recruiter knows you’re in the same time zone as the company, it could make you a more attractive candidate.

The Pros of Including Your Full Address

Although it’s no longer standard practice, putting your address on resumes still carries advantages depending on the job role and company you’re applying for.

Here are the top benefits of including your address on your resume:

• Physical location: If your address is near the location of the job position and organization, you could be seen as an attractive candidate.
• ATS-friendly: Some employers search their applicant tracking systems for location keywords, so listing your address may help you build a more effective ATS resume. 
• Helps employers understand how your location impacts the job: Some positions offer remote options and your address helps recruiters understand if you’re eligible.

• Some recruiters are used to it: If certain employers are used to looking for and using addresses, it makes it more comfortable and easy for them to contact you.
• It’s required for some positions: Some positions, such as government roles, require your full address on your resume.

However, most job seekers don’t believe these advantages are worth the potential drawbacks of including your address on resumes. 

Let’s take a look at the disadvantages next.

The Cons of Including Your Full Address

Because it’s largely unnecessary and the drawbacks can be detrimental, many people choose not to list their address on their resume.

Here are the main disadvantages to putting your address on resumes:

• Privacy concerns and identity theft: Nowadays it’s far too easy to expose yourself to security risks and giving people you don’t know your full address isn’t always a good idea.
• Applying for a risky job: If you’re applying for a job on an unsecured website or to a company that’s unknown or seems suspicious, it’s a large risk to include your address.
• It takes up valuable space: The space on your resume is better used on your experience, education, and skills. Because addresses are no longer standard practice, it’s best to leave room for what matters most.
• Employers may believe your location negatively impacts the job: Even when employers are hiring for fully remote positions, they may believe a job seeker in their area is more qualified than someone five states away.
• It opens you up to location bias: Unfortunately, location bias is a real and damaging thing. For example, some hiring managers may assume that a candidate from a city with high crime rates isn’t suitable.

Many applicants think that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits and simply list a general location, although some choose to omit them entirely. 

Address Format on a Resume

If you choose to include it, it’s essential to learn how to write your address on resumes correctly. The proper address format on resumes is crucial to ensure professionalism and readability.

This step is also important because formatting your address correctly ensures accuracy. It’s easy to cause confusion, especially with some cities, such as Florida, Massachusetts.

First, you need to place your address in the right spot. Always put your address in the header of your resume, in the contact information section. This puts your name, email, phone number, and location at the very top, making them the first things the hiring manager sees.

The next step is choosing how much information to include. This depends on what makes you comfortable and what you believe would be most useful to the hiring manager. Here are a few different ways to put your address on resumes:

• Full address: 123 Gold St, Newburgh, New York 12550
• City, state, and zip: Newburgh, New York 12550
• City and state: Newburgh, New York

You can also consider how you prefer to format your state. You can abbreviate it to save a little bit of space, like this: Newburgh, NY

However, if your state abbreviation is too similar to others, such as IL, IA, and IN, it’s highly recommended you spell your state out completely to avoid confusion.

So, which of the above formatting methods should you choose?

The most common way to list your address on resumes is to include only your city and state. This gives the recruiter the information they need to determine your eligibility for in-person and hybrid roles but doesn’t divulge specific, personal information.

If you need some examples of address formatting in action, check out our resume templates.

Alternatives to Including Your Full Address

There are effective alternatives to putting your address on resumes. Some people may not even feel comfortable listing only their city and state.

A great alternative is listing your general area. This provides your potential employer with a solid location without disclosing anything too personal. Here are two examples:

• Newburgh New York Area
• Orange County New York Area

It’s good to remember that you don’t need to provide your location at all in this day and age. Email addresses and phone numbers have overtaken addresses in importance and it’s far more critical to include them in your contact details.

We also recommend adding a link to your LinkedIn profile as it’s become a new standard for a contact information section.

Tips for Addressing Your Address Dilemma

Should you put your address on your resume? Here are a few tips to help you make a decision.

Always consider the role you’re applying for and edit your resume for each application. For some positions, your address is beneficial, but for most it’s unneeded.

The main time you should list your address on resumes is when you apply for a local, in-office position where it’s essential to live near the company. The other most important occasion is when applying for a government job, where it’s necessary to put your full address. However, most other times it’s either optional or unnecessary. For example, you can omit it completely for a fully remote job, or opt to put a general area.

Should you list your address so employers can conduct a background check before hiring you? While employers do require your address for a background check, it’s common for them to request it upon making you a job offer, so the choice is still yours whether to include it.

When in doubt, list only your city and state to provide enough information without giving up privacy. 

“Email addresses and phone numbers have overtaken addresses in importance and it’s far more critical to include them in your contact information section.”

Putting Address on Resumes: Yes or No?

Should you put your address on your resume? Ultimately, the decision is yours to make.

Think critically about the position and whether or not it would benefit you to list your address. Is it a local job? Or is it a remote position? Would listing your full address put you at risk or open you up to bias?

Tailor each resume to the role you're applying for, including your location where it’s necessary. 

Need some help getting started? You can easily personalize resumes for each role you apply for by using CVWizard’s Resume Builder.