Should You Put Your Address on Your CV in 2024?

Should you put your address on your CV? No, not usually. If you don’t have a specific reason to add it, then don’t. It’s a matter of cost versus benefit: adding your address always costs you at least something, even if only the space in takes up on your CV. Rarely is including your address worthwhile.

Read this guide to see if you should put your address on a CV and, if not, what to add instead. You'll also see a UK application containing CV address and a UK CV example with no address on a CV.

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No address on a CV example

1. Should you put your address on a CV?

No, you shouldn't put your full postal address on a CV, and it's due to data protection reasons. In terms of online job applications, it's better if you limit the amount of personal information that you share. Apart from this, you don't need your address on your CV as it doesn't add anything to your application. Once you're offered a job, you can share your personal address with an employer for business corespondence.

Should you put your address on a CV in any other circumstances? There are some situations in which you might find it advantageous to put your address on a CV, but they’re likely to be rare. The most reasonable approach to take is one of weighing costs and benefits. It mightn’t be obvious that including your address on your CV comes with associated costs and risks.

When writing a CV, what should you include if you're not listing your address?

No address on a CV: the default approach

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2. Reasons not to put your address on a CV

The one negative side to putting your address on your CV that’s guaranteed to always be relevant is that a full address on a CV takes up valuable space. Three or four lines might not seem like much, but when you’re trying to keep to a single A4 page, it can make a world of difference.
It could mean including two more achievements or an extra skill or two and these things could mean the difference between an interview and the sounds of crickets chirping. Even if you feel you don’t need the extra space, having more white space to play with would probably do more for your CV than an address.

And that’s the elephant in the room. When weighing up the costs versus the benefits of putting your address on a CV, it becomes pretty clear that real, concrete benefits are few and far between. Add to that the risks associated with including your address, and the decision gets easier yet.

For example, you could live an hour’s commute out from the company and be in direct competition with someone who lives just down the road. All things being equal, who would you choose? Or maybe you live in a traditionally working-class area, do you want someone’s prejudices affecting your application?

There’s also the trend towards blinding as much of the recruitment process as possible. In an ideal situation you’d be hired on the basis of your abilities alone. Your address, whether it works in your favour or against you, will almost never have anything to do with your suitability for the job at hand.

Limited contact details vs full address on a CV

3. Times when you could put your address on your CV

Maybe you’re the candidate who lives just down the street from the company when all the other candidates would have to commute in peak hour to get there. In that case it’s true that including your home address might put you at an advantage. Other than that, it’s difficult to find any compelling reasons.

You wouldn’t want to leave your phone number or email off of your CV, that would make getting in touch with you much too difficult. But companies that still prefer to correspond with applicants via Royal Mail are rarer than hen’s teeth in the 2020s. So putting your address on your CV rarely serves any purpose.

You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.

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4. How to write an address on a CV

Write your address on your CV like you’d write it in on an envelope. Include the building number and street name, town/city, and postcode, each on a separate line. Include your county if you live in a more rural area. There’s no need to include the country if you’re applying within the UK. Remember to put the town/city in ALL CAPS.

There is some leeway when it comes to the layout. If you live in a flat, for example, you could save a line by writing your address like this:

Or fit your address into a narrower column by writing it like this:

It all depends on the overall layout of your CV. That’s not to say, however, that all address layouts are as flexible—in fact, most aspects of most addresses aren’t. If you’re currently serving in the British Armed Forces, then things look a little different and it’s best to stick to a single format.

Example of an address on a CV

5. Where to put your address on a CV

You should put your address in with your contact details, immediately after your full name and just before your phone number. The best place for your contact details is in the header of your CV. As the name suggests, this’ll be somewhere near the top of CV, making it fast and simple to find.

Address on a CV example

6. Things to consider beyond whether you should put your address on your CV or not

While you’re making decisions regarding what to leave out or put into your CV, consider which CV format is best for you:

• Chronological format
• Skills-based format
• A combination of the two.

Your choice here will dictate what sections your CV will include beyond the header (which stays pretty much the same regardless). Once you have a CV format chosen, you’ll need to start brainstorming achievements and skills to fill out your job descriptions (chronological format) and skills section (all three formats).

Once you have your CV format and contents sorted, it’s time to think about the layout. The key words here are clear, simple, and professional. Use subheadings, bullet points, and that white space you saved by not including your full address on your CV to break up the monotony and make it easy to read.

Do you now know whether you should put your address on your CV? Has this article been helpful to you? It’s easy to second-guess yourself when the stakes are as high as they are when applying for your dream job, but sometime less really is more. Please leave your questions, comments, and any words of wisdom or experiences you’d like to share below.

How we review the content at LiveCareer

Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.