List of U.S. states and territories by population

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The states and territories included in the United States Census Bureau's statistics for the United States population, ethnicity, and most other categories include the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Separate statistics are maintained for the five permanently inhabited territories of the United States: Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.[1]

Resident population of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in 2024 according to the U.S. Census Bureau

As of April 1, 2020, the date of the 2020 United States census, the nine most populous U.S. states contain slightly more than half of the total population. The 25 least populous states contain less than one-sixth of the total population. California, the most populous state, contains more people than the 21 least populous states combined, and Wyoming, the least populous state, has a population less than any of the 31 most populous U.S. cities.

Method

The United States Census counts the persons residing in the United States including citizens, non-citizen permanent residents and non-citizen long-term visitors.[2] Civilian and military federal employees serving abroad and their dependents are counted in their home state.[3]

Electoral apportionment

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau is charged with making an actual count of all residents by state and territory. The accuracy of this count is then tested after the fact, and sometimes statistically significant undercounts or overcounts occur. For example, for the 2020 decennial census, 14 states had significant miscounts ranging from 1.5% to 6.6%. While these adjustments may be reflected in government programs over the following decade, the 10-year representative apportionments discussed below are not changed to reflect the miscount.[4]

House of Representatives

Based on this decennial census, each state is allocated a portion of the 435 fixed seats in the United States House of Representatives (until the early 20th century, the apportionment process generally increased the size of the House based on the results of the census until the size of the House was capped by the Reapportionment Act of 1929), with each state guaranteed at least one Representative. The allocation is based on each state's proportion of the combined population of the fifty states (not including the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands).

Electoral College

The Electoral College, every four years, elects the President and Vice President of the United States based on the popular vote in each state and the District of Columbia. Each state's number of votes in the Electoral College is equal to its number of members in the Senate plus members in the House of Representatives.[5]

The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution additionally grants the District of Columbia (D.C.), which is not a state, as many Electoral College votes as it would have if it were a state, while having no more votes than the least populous state (Wyoming). Since the U.S. Constitution guarantees every state at least one member of the U.S. House of Representatives and two members of the U.S. Senate, every state has at least three Electoral College votes. Thus, the Electoral College has 538 members (100 senators, plus 435 representatives due to the limit imposed by the Reapportionment Act of 1929, plus 3 members for the District of Columbia).[5] Territories of the United States are not included in the Electoral College: people in those territories cannot vote directly for the President of the United States,[6] although they may participate in the partisan nominating primaries and caucuses.[7]

State and territory rankings

More information State or territory, House seats ...
U.S. states and territories by population
State or territory Census population[8][9][a]
Pop. per
elec. vote
(2020)[c]
Pop. per
seat
(2020)
[a]
% US
(2020)
% EC
(2020)
July 1, 2025 (est.)April 1, 2020Seats%
California 39,355,30939,538,2235211.95%732,189760,35011.800%10.04%
Texas 31,709,82129,145,505388.74%728,638766,9878.698%7.43%
Florida 23,462,51821,538,187286.44%717,940769,2216.428%5.58%
New York 20,002,42720,201,249265.98%721,473776,9716.029%5.20%
Pennsylvania 13,059,43213,002,700173.91%684,353764,8653.881%3.53%
Illinois 12,719,14112,812,508173.91%674,343753,6773.824%3.53%
Ohio 11,900,51011,799,448153.45%694,085786,6303.521%3.16%
Georgia 11,802,74810,711,908143.22%669,494765,1363.197%2.97%
North Carolina 11,197,96810,439,388143.22%652,462745,6713.116%2.97%
Michigan 10,127,88410,077,331132.99%671,822775,1793.008%2.79%
New Jersey 9,548,2159,288,994122.76%663,500774,0832.772%2.60%
Virginia 8,880,1078,631,393112.53%663,953784,6722.576%2.42%
Washington 8,001,0207,705,281102.30%642,107770,5282.300%2.23%
Arizona 7,623,8187,151,50292.07%650,137794,6112.134%2.04%
Tennessee 7,315,0766,910,84092.07%628,258767,8712.062%2.04%
Massachusetts 7,154,0847,029,91792.07%639,083781,1022.098%2.04%
Indiana 6,973,3336,785,52892.07%616,866753,9482.025%2.04%
Missouri 6,270,5416,154,91381.84%615,491769,3641.837%1.86%
Maryland 6,265,3476,177,22481.84%617,722772,1531.844%1.86%
Colorado 6,012,5615,773,71481.84%577,371721,7141.723%1.86%
Wisconsin 5,972,7875,893,71881.84%589,372736,7151.759%1.86%
Minnesota 5,830,4055,706,49481.84%570,649713,3121.703%1.86%
South Carolina 5,570,2745,118,42571.61%568,714731,2041.528%1.67%
Alabama 5,193,0885,024,27971.61%558,253717,7541.499%1.67%
Louisiana 4,618,1894,657,75761.38%582,220776,2931.390%1.49%
Kentucky 4,606,8644,505,83661.38%563,230750,9731.345%1.49%
Oregon 4,273,5864,237,25661.38%529,657706,2091.265%1.49%
Oklahoma 4,123,2883,959,35351.15%565,622791,8711.182%1.30%
Connecticut 3,688,4963,605,94451.15%515,135721,1891.076%1.30%
Utah 3,538,9043,271,61640.92%545,269817,9040.976%1.12%
Nevada 3,282,1883,104,61440.92%517,436776,1540.927%1.12%
Iowa 3,238,3873,190,36940.92%531,728797,5920.952%1.12%
Puerto Rico 3,184,8353,285,8741* [note 1]———0.981%—
Arkansas 3,114,7913,011,52440.92%501,921752,8810.899%1.12%
Kansas 2,977,2202,937,88040.92%489,647734,4700.877%1.12%
Mississippi 2,954,1602,961,27940.92%493,547740,3200.884%1.12%
New Mexico 2,125,4982,117,52230.69%423,504705,8410.632%0.93%
Idaho 2,029,7331,839,10620.46%459,777919,5530.549%0.74%
Nebraska 2,018,0061,961,50430.69%392,301653,8350.585%0.93%
West Virginia 1,766,1471,793,71620.46%448,429896,8580.535%0.74%
Hawaii 1,432,8201,455,27120.46%363,818727,6360.434%0.74%
New Hampshire 1,415,3421,377,52920.46%344,382688,7650.411%0.74%
Maine 1,414,8741,362,35920.46%340,590681,1800.407%0.74%
Montana 1,144,6941,084,22520.46%271,056542,1130.324%0.74%
Rhode Island 1,114,5211,097,37920.46%274,345548,6900.328%0.74%
Delaware 1,059,952989,94810.23%329,983989,9480.295%0.56%
South Dakota 935,094886,66710.23%295,556886,6670.265%0.56%
North Dakota 799,358779,09410.23%259,698779,0940.233%0.56%
Alaska 737,270733,39110.23%244,464733,3910.219%0.56%
District of Columbia 693,645689,5451* [note 1]—229,848—0.206%0.56%
Vermont 644,663643,07710.23%214,359643,0770.192%0.56%
Wyoming 588,753576,85110.23%192,284576,8510.172%0.56%
Guam[11] N/A153,8361*[note 1]———0.046%—
U.S. Virgin Islands[12] N/A87,1461* [note 1]———0.026%—
American Samoa[13] N/A49,7101* [note 1]———0.015%—
Northern Mariana Islands[14] N/A47,3291* [note 1]———0.014%—
Contiguous United States339,614,767329,260,619432
(+1*)		99.31%623,600756,92198.265%98.70%
The 50 states341,091,212330,759,736435100%618,242760,36798.713%99.44%
The 50 states and D.C.341,784,857331,449,281435
(+1*)		100%616,077—98.918%100%
Total US and territoriesN/A335,073,176435
(+6*)		100%——100%—
Close

* — non-voting member of the House of Representatives.

  1. [a]
    Resident population only; does not include overseas population. In 2022, the Census Bureau announced the following undercounts (missed residents) in the 2020 census: Arkansas (−5.04%), Florida (−3.48%), Illinois (−1.97%), Mississippi (−4.11%), Tennessee (−4.78%) and Texas (−1.92%). These were the overcounts: Delaware (+5.45%), Hawaii (+6.79%), Massachusetts (+2.24%), Minnesota (+3.84%), New York (+3.44%), Ohio (+1.49%), Rhode Island (+5.05%) and Utah (+2.59%).[10]
  2. [b]
    Effective from 2022 onward.
  3. [c]
    Effective from the 2022 elections onward. Each state has a number of votes in the Electoral College equal to its number of senators (two) and representatives in the Congress, while D.C. is granted three electoral votes. The Electoral College is used to elect the President and Vice President of the United States.

Summary of population by region

More information Legend ...
Legend
Division totals – 9 divisions for 50 states and District of Columbia
Region totals – 4 regions (2 or 3 divisions each)
Individual territories
Total U.S. territories
50 states + District of Columbia
Divisions & regions as defined by U.S. Census Bureau
Last col. shows larger region which contains entity in col. 1
Close

Column header abbreviations: # = Rank, Geo. = Geographic

More information State/federal district/territory/ division/region, # ...
Population of states, territories, divisions and region[15]
State/federal district/territory/
division/region		 #2020 pop.#2010 pop.#2000 pop.#2010–
2020
change		Geo.
sort
Massachusetts 157,029,917146,547,629136,349,097217.4%NEng
Connecticut 293,605,944293,574,097293,405,565470.9%NEng
New Hampshire 411,377,529421,316,470411,235,786304.6%NEng
Maine 421,362,359411,328,361401,274,923422.6%NEng
Rhode Island 431,097,379431,052,567431,048,319314.3%NEng
Vermont 49643,07749625,74149608,827402.8%NEng
       New England 915,116,205914,444,865913,922,51774.6%NEast
New York 420,201,249319,378,102318,976,457324.2%MAtl
Pennsylvania 513,002,700612,702,379612,281,054432.4%MAtl
New Jersey 119,288,994118,791,89498,414,350255.7%MAtl
       Mid-Atlantic 442,492,943440,872,375439,671,86184.0%NEast
       Northeast 457,609,148455,317,240453,594,37834.1%USA
Florida 321,538,187418,801,310415,982,378814.6%SAtl
Georgia 810,711,90899,687,653108,186,4531210.6%SAtl
North Carolina 910,439,388109,535,483118,049,313159.5%SAtl
Virginia 128,631,393128,001,024127,078,515187.9%SAtl
Maryland 186,177,224195,773,552195,296,486227.0%SAtl
South Carolina 235,118,425244,625,364264,012,0121010.7%SAtl
West Virginia 391,793,716371,852,994371,808,34450−3.2%SAtl
Delaware 45989,94845897,93445783,6001310.2%SAtl
District of Columbia –689,545–601,723–572,059–14.6%SAtl
       South Atlantic 166,089,734159,777,037151,769,160310.6%South
Tennessee 166,910,840176,346,105165,689,283178.9%ESC
Alabama 245,024,279234,779,736234,447,100275.1%ESC
Kentucky 264,505,836264,339,367254,041,769333.8%ESC
Mississippi 342,961,279312,967,297312,844,65849−0.2%ESC
       East South Central 819,402,234818,432,505817,022,81065.3%South
Texas 229,145,505225,145,561220,851,820315.9%WSC
Louisiana 254,657,757254,533,372224,468,976412.7%WSC
Oklahoma 283,959,353283,751,351273,450,654265.5%WSC
Arkansas 333,011,524322,915,918332,673,400353.3%WSC
       West South Central 540,774,139536,346,202531,444,850212.2%South
       South 1126,266,1071114,555,7441100,236,820110.2%USA
Illinois 612,812,508512,830,632512,419,29348−0.1%ENC
Ohio 711,799,448711,536,504711,353,140452.3%ENC
Michigan 1010,077,33189,883,64089,938,444462.0%ENC
Indiana 176,785,528156,483,802146,080,485294.7%ENC
Wisconsin 205,893,718205,686,986185,363,675343.6%ENC
       East North Central 347,368,533346,421,564245,155,03792.0%MWest
Missouri 196,154,913185,988,927175,595,211392.8%WNC
Minnesota 225,706,494215,303,925214,919,479197.6%WNC
Iowa 313,190,369303,046,355302,926,324284.7%WNC
Kansas 352,937,880332,853,118322,688,418373.0%WNC
Nebraska 371,961,504381,826,341381,711,263207.4%WNC
South Dakota 46886,66746814,18046754,844168.9%WNC
North Dakota 47779,09448672,59147642,200415.8%WNC
       West North Central 721,616,921720,505,437619,237,73955.4%MWest
       Midwest 368,985,454366,927,001264,392,77643.1%USA
Arizona 147,151,502166,392,017205,130,632911.9%Mtn
Colorado 215,773,714225,029,196244,301,261614.8%Mtn
Utah 303,271,616342,763,885342,233,169118.4%Mtn
Nevada 323,104,614352,700,551351,998,257515.0%Mtn
New Mexico 362,117,522362,059,179361,819,046382.8%Mtn
Idaho 381,839,106391,567,582391,293,953217.3%Mtn
Montana 441,084,22544989,41544902,195149.6%Mtn
Wyoming 50576,85150563,62650493,782442.3%Mtn
       Mountain 624,919,150622,065,451718,172,295112.9%West
California 139,538,223137,253,956133,871,648246.1%Pac
Washington 137,705,281136,724,540155,894,121714.6%Pac
Oregon 274,237,256273,831,074283,421,3991110.6%Pac
Hawaii 401,455,271401,360,301421,211,537237.0%Pac
Alaska 48733,39147710,23148626,932363.3%Pac
       Pacific 253,669,422249,880,102345,025,63747.6%West
       West 278,588,572271,945,553363,197,93229.2%USA
50 states and District of Columbia –331,449,281–308,745,538–281,421,906–7.4%NAmer
Puerto Rico 13,285,87413,725,78913,808,6103−11.8%I.A.
Guam 2153,8362159,3582154,8051−3.5%I.A.
U.S. Virgin Islands 387,1463106,4053108,6122−18.1%I.A.
American Samoa 449,710455,519557,2914−7.7%I.A.
Northern Mariana Islands 547,329553,883469,2215−14.8%I.A.
United States Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Minor Outlying Islands 6[note 2]6[note 3] 63166—I.A.
       Island Areas (Territories) –3,623,895–4,100,954–4,198,855–−11.6%USA
State/federal district/territory/
division/region		 #2020 pop.#2010 pop.#2000 pop.#2010–
2020
change		Geo.
sort
Close

See also

Notes

  1. [1]
    All territories plus D.C. have one House representative called a Resident commissioner (Puerto Rico) or a Delegate (D.C. and other territories), which can debate and vote in committees, but are restricted from voting on the House floor. Unlike other territories, D.C. is allowed to vote in presidential elections under the 23rd Amendment.
  2. [2]
    Not enumerated in 2020.
  3. [3]
    Not enumerated in 2010.

References

External links

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI