I have a set of addresses with a dash between the numbers:
800 - 1100 HORD ST 75202
2400 - 2500 KITTRELL ST 75201
I thought this refers to houses from 800 to 1100 and from 2400 to 2500 on those streets. But there are other examples like these:
136-39 37 AVE
1221-102 CANYON ROCK CT
where that theory doesn't seem to fit.
In my experience, it usually means what you think it means: a range of address numbers. I've also seen it used as a way of writing an apartment or suite number, so 136-39 37 AVE would be 136 37th Ave, Apt. 39, and 1221-102 CANYON ROCK CT would be 1221 Canyon Rock Ct, Apt. 102. It's not a very good way to denote an apartment/room/suite number but I've seen it used occasionally.
Some localities use a grid-based addressing scheme, for example Fair Lawn, NJ:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Lawn,_New_Jersey#Grid-based_address_system
Fair Lawn uses a street address numbering system in which most Fair Lawn addresses are given hyphenated numbers, such as 10-13 Some Street.
The first numbers (before the dash) correspond to block-distances from Broadway (on streets that run North-South) and to the numbered streets in the borough (example: 2nd Street, 17th Street, etc.) on the streets that run East-West; with the highest numbers being in the low 40s, and the lowest numbers being 0-30, etc. Addresses south of Broadway / Route 4 start with a zero and a hyphen, which can cause confusion with those unfamiliar with the grid system. Most GPS systems and online address entry forms do not accept the dash, though addresses entered without the dash are typically handled properly.
They use the dash system in Hawaii. I am not 100% positive, but I am pretty sure their use is the [city]-[location] [street]. Here are the addresses of the post office in 3 neighboring cities:
54-316 Kamehameha Hwy, Hauula, HI 96717
55-510 Kamehameha Hwy, Laie, HI 96762
56-565 Kamehameha Hwy, Kahuku, HI 96731
All of the house addresses in the corresponding cities start with the 54- or 55- etc. regardless of which street you are on.
In addition to the possibilities already discussed:
800 - 1100 HORD ST 75202
2400 - 2500 KITTRELL ST 75201
These look like address ranges returned by a reverse geocoding API.
136-39 37 AVE
This may refer to a building or complex that contains multiple addresses, like a strip mall. If that were the case, it should really read 136-139. However, it may be abbreviated.
In the Portland, OR metro area, dashed addresses most frequently indicate multi-tenant properties. Each tenant may have a distinct mailing address (eg strip malls, business parks, plexes). In Portland, the county assessor SITUS address may be different from the commonly used mailing address.
