Do You Need to Include the Company’s Address (or Yours) on a Cover Letter?

Should I put the company address on a cover letter? 

Here at Let’s Eat, Grandma, we maintain you don’t need to put the company address on a cover letter anymore.

Of course, it’s likely that including the company’s address is not going to hurt you, but there’s really no point since you aren’t sending the letter by snail mail. The address will just take up space, and the formality doesn’t carry any real meaning.

And, since including the company address in a cover letter is an outdated practice, you may set yourself up for ageism by doing it.

Instead, put your effort into addressing the hiring manager by name and creating compelling body content.

Back in 2012, Forbes wrote about changing formats and the importance of concision in the midst of changing norms about cover letters. They caught the gist of this issue a decade ago by pointing out the importance of content over format.

Your reader cares about what’s in your cover letter, not about an arbitrary formality, such as telling them where they’re located.

Including the recipient’s full address is archaic and takes up precious cover letter space.

Still not convinced that you should submit your cover letter without the company address, though? Maybe you’re still thinking, “Better safe than sorry.” Fair enough, but let’s break it down a little further:

Cons of listing the company’s address:

—Unnecessary information in our virtual age

You’re likely submitting your application to a company online, rather than to their physical address.

Have you ever actually mailed a cover letter as a physical letter to a company in the last 20 years? If you have, well, you won’t need to for your next application.

The company may even be remote at this point, not operating out of its mailing address as it did in pre-COVID years.

Either way, you’re going to be submitting the application electronically, and they know their own location.

—Outdated format

Etiquette evolves with time. This aspect of cover letters hasn’t been much discussed in the public realm, unlike the development of applicant tracking systems, but the times have still changed.

Companies may have thought that including their address at the top of a cover letter was a polite formality in times past, but it’s difficult to imagine a recruiter today thinking, “Oh, they didn’t include our address? What an uncultured buffoon! No one with these improper manners will set foot in my establishment!”

And as we mentioned before, using an outdated format could even work against you.

—Waste of space compared to the body of the letter

The body is the part that matters, since it’s where you introduce yourself to the employer and elaborate on why you’re a good fit for the job. Your vivid examples and compelling, perhaps transferable skill sets look best within half to three-quarters of a page.

Wasting space with the company’s address on multiple lines in your cover letter limits you and gives you less space to express yourself.

Including the company’s address in the cover letter may not be a major turn-off compared to having a sloppy body, using an unprofessional email address, or not including a cover letter at all. But it’s simply unnecessary at best, and a waste of precious space at the worst.

Should you include your own address on a cover letter?

Just like on your resume, there’s no need to include your full address or ZIP code on a cover letter (i.e., your street address).

That said, you should include your general location so hiring manager knows your home base. This can be a city “Phoenix, AZ” or area, “Denver Metropolitan Area, CO.”

If you live in a small town near a large city, but you’re fine with commuting to that city for work, you can put the larger city name.

This applies even if the job is a remote job. Some employers want to make sure you’re in the same country, region, or state as the company location, even if you never have to physically go in to the office.

When it comes to your contact information, your phone number and email address are sufficient.

We advise using the same header for both your resume and cover letter, and this should include your city, name, and contact information.

You can also repeat the email and phone number again as a CTA in the last paragraph of your cover letter. This way, you can be absolutely sure the company will know how to reach you.

The bottom line

Still not convinced that you should submit your cover letter without the company address, though? Maybe you’re still thinking, “Better safe than sorry.” Fair enough, but let’s break it down a little further:

Since the company knows their address, you don’t need to include it in your cover letter. And since your header has your contact information and city on it, you don’t need to write out your full address.

So there you have it. Write your next cover letter without the company address or yours, and you’ll have so much more room for the stories, values, and personal voice that will actually help you get hired.

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