=MID(A1,FIND(LOOKUP(9.99999999999999E+307,--MID(A1,MIN(SEARCH({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A1&"012345 6789")),ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A1))))),A1)-3,2)

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HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)



"bm" wrote in message
...
Trying to extract two letters, the state to be more specific in cells that
have varying lenghts and number of spaces. Examples:
CEDAR RAPIDS IA 52404 USA
DANVILLE IL 61834 USA
FARGO ND 58102 USA
DES PLAINES IL 60016 USA
WOOD DALE IL 60191-1960 USA
So the only two letter combo between two spaces...
I need the states pulled out of these. Example
IA
IL
ND
IL
IL
Thanks