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list of U.S. states by population
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A map of the states, boundaries, and capital cities of the United States, along with the bodies of water and other countries surrounding the U.S.
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A map of the states, boundaries, and capital cities of the United States, along with the bodies of water and other countries surrounding the U.S.
Map showing the states and capitals of the United States

list of U.S. states by population

Written by
Amy Tikkanen
Amy Tikkanen is Managing Editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Amy Tikkanen
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

As of 2023, the United States was the world’s third most-populated country, with more than 335,000,000 people. The U.S. state with the largest population is California, which has some 39,000,000 residents. Second is Texas, with more than 30,000,000. Several states have less than 1,000,000 people, and Wyoming holds the title of the least-populated state, with fewer than 600,000. How do the other states rank? Find out in the table below, which lists the 50 U.S. states by the latest population estimate.

U.S. state population: estimate population: census
1. California (2024 est.) 39,431,263 (2020) 39,538,223
2. Texas (2024 est.) 31,290,831 (2020) 29,145,505
3. Florida (2024 est.) 23,372,215 (2020) 21,538,187
4. New York (2024 est.) 19,867,248 (2020) 20,201,249
5. Pennsylvania (2024 est.) 13,078,751 (2020) 13,002,700
6. Illinois (2024 est.) 12,710,158 (2020) 12,812,508
7. Ohio (2024 est.) 11,883,304 (2020) 11,799,448
8. Georgia (2024 est.) 11,180,878 (2020) 10,711,908
9. North Carolina (2024 est.) 11,046,024 (2020) 10,439,388
10. Michigan (2024 est.) 10,140,459 (2020) 10,077,331
11. New Jersey (2024 est.) 9,500,851 (2020) 9,288,994
12. Virginia (2024 est.) 8,811,195 (2020) 8,631,393
13. Washington (2024 est.) 7,958,180 (2020) 7,705,281
14. Arizona (2024 est.) 7,582,384 (2020) 7,151,502
15. Tennessee (2024 est.) 7,227,750 (2020) 6,910,840
16. Massachusetts (2024 est.) 7,136,171 (2020) 7,029,917
17. Indiana (2024 est.) 6,924,275 (2020) 6,785,528
18. Missouri (2024 est.) 6,245,466 (2020) 6,154,913
19. Maryland (2024 est.) 6,263,220 (2020) 6,177,224
20. Wisconsin (2024 est.) 5,960,975 (2020) 5,893,718
21. Colorado (2024 est.) 5,957,493 (2020) 5,773,714
22. Minnesota (2024 est.) 5,793,151 (2020) 5,706,494
23. South Carolina (2024 est.) 5,478,831 (2020) 5,118,425
24. Alabama (2024 est.) 5,157,699 (2020) 5,024,279
25. Louisiana (2024 est.) 4,597,740 (2020) 4,657,757
26. Kentucky (2024 est.) 4,588,372 (2020) 4,505,836
27. Oregon (2024 est.) 4,272,371 (2020) 4,237,256
28. Oklahoma (2024 est.) 4,095,393 (2020) 3,959,353
29. Connecticut (2024 est.) 3,675,069 (2020) 3,605,944
30. Utah (2024 est.) 3,503,613 (2020) 3,271,616
31. Iowa (2024 est.) 3,241,488 (2020) 3,190,369
32. Nevada (2024 est.) 3,267,467 (2020) 3,104,614
33. Arkansas (2024 est.) 3,088,354 (2020) 3,011,524
34. Kansas (2024 est.) 2,970,606 (2020) 2,937,880
35. Mississippi (2024 est.) 2,943,045 (2020) 2,961,279
36. New Mexico (2024 est.) 2,130,256 (2020) 2,117,522
37. Nebraska (2024 est.) 2,005,465 (2020) 1,961,504
38. Idaho (2024 est.) 2,001,619 (2020) 1,839,106
39. West Virginia (2024 est.) 1,769,979 (2020) 1,793,716
40. Hawaii (2024 est.) 1,446,146 (2020) 1,455,271
41. New Hampshire (2024 est.) 1,409,032 (2020) 1,377,529
42. Maine (2024 est.) 1,405,012 (2020) 1,362,359
43. Montana (2024 est.) 1,137,233 (2020) 1,084,225
44. Rhode Island (2024 est.) 1,112,308 (2020) 1,097,379
45. Delaware (2024 est.) 1,051,917 (2020) 989,948
46. South Dakota (2024 est.) 924,669 (2020) 886,667
47. North Dakota (2024 est.) 796,568 (2020) 779,094
48. Alaska (2024 est.) 740,133 (2020) 733,391
49. Vermont (2024 est.) 648,493 (2020) 643,077
50. Wyoming (2024 est.) 587,618 (2020) 576,851
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Amy Tikkanen