List of U.S. states and territories by population

Map of each state's population as of 2013

This is a list of U.S. states by population (with inhabited non-state jurisdictions included for comparison) as of April 1, 2010, the date of the 2010 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.

Methodology

Map of population change in U.S. states from April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013.

The United States Census counts most persons residing in the United States including citizens, non-citizen permanent residents, and non-citizen long-term visitors.^[1] Civilian and military federal employees serving abroad and their dependents are counted in their home state.^[2]

Electoral apportionment

Based on data from the decennial census, each state is allocated a proportion of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, although each state is guaranteed a minimum of one seat, regardless of population. This apportionment is based on the proportion of each state's population to that of the Fifty States together (without regard to the populations of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or other U.S. dependencies). The Electoral College is the body that, every four years, elects the president and vice president of the United States. Each state's representation in the Electoral College is equal to that state's total number of members in both houses of the United States Congress. The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution effectively grants the District of Columbia, which is separate from any state, three votes. More precisely, the district gets as many votes in the Electoral College as it would have if it were a state, with the caveat that the district can have no more votes than the least populous state (which is currently Wyoming). Currently, this caveat is a moot point since the District would only be entitled to one Representative if it were a state, and is more populous than only two of the seven states with a single member in the House since 2013. Since the Constitution guarantees every state at least one Representative and effectively guarantees every state two Senators, it effectively guarantees every state (and, since the ratification of the 23rd Amendment, the District of Columbia) at least three electoral votes. Thus, the total representation in the College is 538 members (equal to 100 senators plus 435 representatives, plus 3 members for the District of Columbia).^[3]

The eleven most populous states, representing 56% of the population, currently have a majority of the Electoral College votes, enough to elect the president, although these eleven states have not voted for the same candidate in any presidential election since 1984.

States and territories

Rank in the fifty states, 2015	Rank in all states & territories, 2010	State or territory	Population estimate, July 1, 2015	Census population, April 1, 2010	Total seats in House of Representatives, 2013–2023	Estimated pop. per House seat, 2015	Census pop. per House seat, 2010	Percent of total U.S. pop., 2015[note 1]	Comparable country
1	1	California	39,144,818	37,254,503	53	738,581	702,905	12.18%	Poland
2	2	Texas	27,469,114	25,146,105	36	763,031	698,487	8.55%	Ghana
3	4	Florida	20,271,272	18,804,623	27	750,788	696,345	6.31%	Romania
4	3	New York	19,795,791	19,378,087	27	733,177	717,707	6.16%	Niger
5	5	Illinois	12,859,995	12,831,549	18	714,444	712,813	4.00%	Guinea
6	6	Pennsylvania	12,802,503	12,702,887	18	711,250	705,688	3.98%	Zimbabwe
7	7	Ohio	11,613,423	11,536,725	16	725,839	721,032	3.61%	Belgium
8	9	Georgia	10,214,860	9,688,681	14	729,633	691,975	3.18%	Portugal
9	10	North Carolina	10,042,802	9,535,692	13	772,523	733,498	3.12%	Hungary
10	8	Michigan	9,922,576	9,884,129	14	708,755	705,974	3.11%	Sweden
11	11	New Jersey	8,958,013	8,791,936	12	746,501	732,658	2.79%	Belarus
12	12	Virginia	8,382,993	8,001,045	11	762,090	727,366	2.61%	Israel
13	13	Washington	7,170,351	6,724,543	10	717,035	672,454	2.23%	Paraguay
14	16	Arizona	6,828,065	6,392,307	9	758,674	710,224	2.12%	Sierra Leone
15	14	Massachusetts	6,794,422	6,547,817	9	754,936	727,514	2.11%	Laos
16	15	Indiana	6,619,680	6,484,229	9	735,520	720,422	2.06%	El Salvador
17	17	Tennessee	6,600,299	6,346,275	9	733,367	705,123	2.05%	Libya
18	18	Missouri	6,083,672	5,988,927	8	760,459	748,615	1.89%	Nicaragua
19	19	Maryland	6,006,401	5,773,785	8	750,800	721,694	1.87%	Kyrgyzstan
20	20	Wisconsin	5,771,337	5,687,289	8	721,417	710,873	1.80%	Denmark
21	21	Minnesota	5,489,594	5,303,925	8	686,199	662,991	1.71%	Finland
22	22	Colorado	5,456,574	5,029,324	7	779,511	720,704	1.70%	Slovakia
23	24	South Carolina	4,896,146	4,625,401	7	699,449	660,766	1.52%	Costa Rica
24	23	Alabama	4,858,979	4,780,127	7	694,140	682,819	1.51%	Central African Republic
25	25	Louisiana	4,670,724	4,533,479	6	778,454	755,562	1.45%	Republic of Ireland
26	26	Kentucky	4,425,092	4,339,349	6	737,515	723,228	1.38%	Liberia
27	27	Oregon	4,028,977	3,831,073	5	805,795	766,215	1.25%	Bosnia
28	28	Oklahoma	3,911,338	3,751,616	5	782,268	750,270	1.22%	Panama
29	30	Connecticut	3,590,886	3,574,118	5	718,177	714,819	1.13%	Uruguay
—	29	Puerto Rico	3,474,182	3,726,157	1[note 2]	—	—	1.08%	Moldova
30	31	Iowa	3,123,899	3,046,869	4	780,975	761,589	0.97%	Mongolia
31	35	Utah	2,995,919	2,763,888	4	748,083	690,221	0.93%	Lithuania
32	32	Mississippi	2,992,333	2,968,103	4	748,083	741,824	0.93%	Lithuania
33	33	Arkansas	2,978,204	2,915,958	4	744,551	728,980	0.93%	Armenia
34	34	Kansas	2,911,641	2,853,132	4	727,910	713,280	0.91%	Albania
35	36	Nevada	2,890,845	2,700,691	4	722,711	675,110	0.90%	Jamaica
36	37	New Mexico	2,085,109	2,059,192	3	695,036	686,393	0.65%	Macedonia
37	39	Nebraska	1,896,190	1,826,341	3	632,063	608,780	0.59%	Gambia
38	38	West Virginia	1,844,128	1,853,011	3	614,709	617,665	0.57%	Kosovo
39	40	Idaho	1,654,930	1,567,652	2	827,465	783,791	0.51%	Gabon
40	41	Hawaii	1,431,603	1,360,301	2	715,802	680,151	0.45%	Bahrain
41	43	New Hampshire	1,330,608	1,316,466	2	665,304	658,235	0.41%	Estonia
42	42	Maine	1,329,328	1,328,361	2	664,664	664,181	0.41%	Trinidad and Tobago
43	44	Rhode Island	1,056,298	1,052,931	2	528,149	526,284	0.33%	East Timor
44	45	Montana	1,032,949	989,417	1	1,032,949	989,415	0.32%	Swaziland
45	46	Delaware	945,934	897,936	1	945,934	897,934	0.29%	Djibouti
46	47	South Dakota	858,469	814,191	1	858,469	814,180	0.27%	Cyprus
47	49	North Dakota	756,927	672,591	1	756,927	672,591	0.24%	Bhutan
48	48	Alaska	738,432	710,249	1	738,432	710,231	0.23%	Guyana
—	51	District of Columbia	672,228	601,767	1[note 2]	672,228	—	0.21%	Solomon Islands
49	50	Vermont	626,042	625,745	1	626,042	625,741	0.19%	Montenegro
50	52	Wyoming	586,107	563,767	1	586,107	563,626	0.18%	Luxembourg
—	53	Guam	—	159,358[4]	1[note 2]	—	—	0.06%	Saint Lucia
—	54	U.S. Virgin Islands	—	106,405[5]	1[note 2]	—	—	0.04%	Kiribati
—	55	American Samoa	—	55,519[6]	1[note 2]	—	—	0.02%	Saint Kitts and Nevis
—	56	Northern Mariana Islands	—	53,883[7]	1[note 2]	—	—	0.02%	Saint Kitts and Nevis
—	—	The fifty states	320,746,592	308,156,338	435	737,348	708,376	98.48%	—
—	—	Fifty states + D.C.	321,418,820	308,758,105	435 + 1[note 2]	—	—	98.67%	—
—	—	Total U.S. territory	—	312,913,872	435 + 6[note 2]	—	—	100.00%	—

1. Because of rounding of the individual percentages, the entries in this column may not sum to 100%.
2. The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands are each represented by one non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Summary of population by region

Legend
Division totals – 9 divisions for 50 states and D.C.
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

Population of states, territories, divisions and regions

State/Territory/ Division/Region	Rank	2013 population	Rank	2010 population	Rank	2000 population	Rank	2000- 2010 change	Geographic sort
Massachusetts	14	6,692,824	14	6,547,629	13	6,349,097	43	3.1%	NEng
Connecticut	29	3,596,080	29	3,574,097	29	3,405,565	35	4.9%	NEng
Maine	41	1,328,302	41	1,328,361	40	1,274,923	39	4.2%	NEng
New Hampshire	42	1,323,459	42	1,316,470	41	1,235,786	32	6.5%	NEng
Rhode Island	43	1,051,511	43	1,052,567	43	1,048,319	49	0.4%	NEng
Vermont	49	626,630	49	625,741	49	608,827	44	2.8%	NEng
New England	9	14,618,806	9	14,444,865	9	13,922,517	7	3.8%	NEast
New York	3	19,651,127	3	19,378,102	3	18,976,457	46	2.1%	MAtl
Pennsylvania	6	12,773,801	6	12,702,379	6	12,281,054	41	3.4%	MAtl
New Jersey	11	8,899,339	11	8,791,894	9	8,414,350	37	4.5%	MAtl
Mid-Atlantic	4	41,324,267	4	40,872,375	4	39,671,861	8	3.0%	NEast
Northeast	4	55,943,073	4	55,317,240	4	53,594,378	4	3.2%	USA
Florida	4	19,552,860	4	18,801,310	4	15,982,378	8	17.6%	SAtl
Georgia	8	9,992,167	9	9,687,653	10	8,186,453	7	18.3%	SAtl
North Carolina	10	9,848,060	10	9,535,483	11	8,049,313	6	18.5%	SAtl
Virginia	12	8,260,405	12	8,001,024	12	7,078,515	16	13.0%	SAtl
Maryland	19	5,928,814	19	5,773,552	19	5,296,486	23	9.0%	SAtl
South Carolina	24	4,774,839	24	4,625,364	26	4,012,012	10	15.3%	SAtl
West Virginia	38	1,854,304	37	1,852,994	37	1,808,344	45	2.5%	SAtl
Delaware	45	925,749	45	897,934	45	783,600	11	14.6%	SAtl
District of Columbia	--	646,449	--	601,723	--	572,059	--	5.2%	SAtl
South Atlantic	1	61,783,647	1	59,777,037	1	51,769,160	3	15.5%	South
Tennessee	17	6,495,978	17	6,346,105	16	5,689,283	19	11.5%	ESC
Alabama	23	4,833,722	23	4,779,736	23	4,447,100	27	7.5%	ESC
Kentucky	26	4,395,295	26	4,339,367	25	4,041,769	28	7.4%	ESC
Mississippi	31	2,991,207	31	2,967,297	31	2,844,658	38	4.3%	ESC
East South Central	8	18,716,202	8	18,432,505	8	17,022,810	5	8.3%	South
Texas	2	26,448,193	2	25,145,561	2	20,851,820	5	20.6%	WSC
Louisiana	25	4,625,470	25	4,533,372	22	4,468,976	48	1.4%	WSC
Oklahoma	28	3,850,568	28	3,751,351	27	3,450,654	24	8.7%	WSC
Arkansas	32	2,959,373	32	2,915,918	33	2,673,400	22	9.1%	WSC
West South Central	5	37,883,604	5	36,346,202	5	31,444,850	2	15.6%	South
South	1	118,383,453	1	114,555,744	1	100,236,820	1	14.3%	USA
Illinois	5	12,882,135	5	12,830,632	5	12,419,293	42	3.3%	ENC
Ohio	7	11,570,808	7	11,536,504	7	11,353,140	47	1.6%	ENC
Michigan	9	9,895,622	8	9,883,640	8	9,938,444	50	-0.6%	ENC
Indiana	16	6,570,902	15	6,483,802	14	6,080,485	31	6.6%	ENC
Wisconsin	20	5,742,713	20	5,686,986	18	5,363,675	34	6.0%	ENC
East North Central	3	46,662,180	3	46,421,564	2	45,155,037	9	2.8%	MWest
Missouri	18	6,044,171	18	5,988,927	17	5,595,211	29	7.0%	WNC
Minnesota	21	5,420,380	21	5,303,925	21	4,919,479	26	7.8%	WNC
Iowa	30	3,090,416	30	3,046,355	30	2,926,324	40	4.1%	WNC
Kansas	34	2,893,957	33	2,853,118	32	2,688,418	33	6.1%	WNC
Nebraska	37	1,868,516	38	1,826,341	38	1,711,263	30	6.7%	WNC
South Dakota	46	844,877	46	814,180	46	754,844	25	7.9%	WNC
North Dakota	48	723,393	48	672,591	47	642,200	36	4.7%	WNC
West North Central	7	20,885,710	7	20,505,437	6	19,237,739	6	6.6%	MWest
Midwest	3	67,547,890	3	66,927,001	2	64,392,776	3	3.9%	USA
Arizona	15	6,626,624	16	6,392,017	20	5,130,632	2	24.6%	Mtn
Colorado	22	5,268,367	22	5,029,196	24	4,301,261	9	16.9%	Mtn
Utah	33	2,900,872	34	2,763,885	34	2,233,169	3	23.8%	Mtn
Nevada	35	2,790,136	35	2,700,551	35	1,998,257	1	35.1%	Mtn
New Mexico	36	2,085,287	36	2,059,179	36	1,819,046	15	13.2%	Mtn
Idaho	39	1,612,136	39	1,567,582	39	1,293,953	4	21.1%	Mtn
Montana	44	1,015,165	44	989,415	44	902,195	21	9.7%	Mtn
Wyoming	50	582,658	50	563,626	50	493,782	12	14.1%	Mtn
Mountain	6	22,881,245	6	22,065,451	7	18,172,295	1	21.4%	West
California	1	38,332,521	1	37,253,956	1	33,871,648	20	10.0%	Pac
Washington	13	6,971,406	13	6,724,540	15	5,894,121	13	14.1%	Pac
Oregon	27	3,930,065	27	3,831,074	28	3,421,399	18	12.0%	Pac
Hawaii	40	1,404,054	40	1,360,301	42	1,211,537	17	12.3%	Pac
Alaska	47	735,132	47	710,231	48	626,932	14	13.3%	Pac
Pacific	2	51,373,178	2	49,880,102	3	45,025,637	4	10.8%	West
West	2	74,254,423	2	71,945,553	3	63,197,932	2	13.8%	USA
50 states and D.C.	--	316,128,839	--	308,745,538	--	281,421,906	--	9.7%	NAmer
Puerto Rico	1	3,615,086	1	3,725,789	1	3,808,610	3	-2.2%	Terr.
Guam	2	--	2	159,358	2	154,805	1	2.9%	Terr.
U.S. Virgin Islands	3	--	3	106,405	3	108,612	2	-2.0%	Terr.
American Samoa	4	--	4	55,519	5	57,291	4	-3.1%	Terr.
Northern Mariana Islands	5	--	5	53,883	4	69,221	5	-22.2%	Terr.
Total Territories	--	--	--	4,100,954	--	4,198,539	--	-2.3%	USA

See also

• Demographics of the United States
• List of United States cities by population
• List of U.S. states by African-American population
• List of U.S. states by historical population (tables of state populations since 1790)
• List of U.S. states by population density
• List of U.S. states by population growth rate
• List of U.S. states by vehicles per capita
• List of U.S. states by religiosity
• United States

References

General

• "National Totals: Vintage 2015". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
• "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
• "2010 Apportionment Population", U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved January 6, 2011
• "2009 Census estimates". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2010-08-07. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1995, U.S. Census Bureau, Section 29: Outlying Areas, Table No. 1347. Land Area and Population Characteristics, by [Outlying] Area: 1990 (page 828). Retrieved May 28, 2011

Specific

1. "FAQ: Does the Census Bureau collect data on the number of unauthorized migrants?". U. S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
2. "FAQ: Will 2010 Census apportionment population counts also include any Americans overseas?". U. S Census Bureau. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
3. Office of the Federal Register. "A Procedural Guide to the Electoral College". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
4. http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn179.html
5. http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn180.html
6. http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn177.html
7. http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn178.html

External links

• United States Government
  • United States Census Bureau
    • 2010 United States Census
    • USCB population estimates
  • United States Office of Management and Budget