Reference·N3 Segment·N302
X12 270/271 Reference

N302 in X12 270/271: A Field Guide to Address Information

Jul 28, 2026 · 4 min read
← N301

N302 only appears when an address needs a second line, which makes it the element most likely to be skipped entirely in hand-built test files — and the one most likely to break a display template the first time a real suite number shows up.

Quick answer

N302 is the second element of the N3 segment in an X12 271 response — an optional free-form field that carries additional address detail, such as a suite, unit, floor, or PO box, when a single line isn't enough.

What this element carries

Format
Free-form text — no fixed structure, same character-length constraint as N301
Typical content
Suite, unit, floor, or box number — detail that doesn't fit cleanly on the primary street line
Requirement
Optional — N3 is valid with N301 alone; N302 appears only when needed

Example

Synthetic example Generated by Synthibase
N3*482 Wexford Lane*Suite 210

N302 = Suite 210, the secondary address line that follows the street name in N301. Synthetic 271 response data.

Where this trips people up

Display and mailing templates built against test data where N302 is always empty tend to hardcode a single-line address layout. The first production address with a populated N302 either gets dropped from the rendered output or gets awkwardly appended to the end of N301 with no line break, and both mistakes look fine in a demo where nobody happens to live in a suite.

X12 270/271 N3 Segment Guide: Fields, Format, and Testing Gotchas
How to Test 270/271 Eligibility Transactions Before Go-Live
How to Validate X12 EDI Files Before Payer Submission
Test single-line and two-line addresses side by side
Synthibase generates synthetic 271 responses with both single-line and two-line N3 segments, so N302 handling gets exercised in testing instead of discovered in production, zero PHI.
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