List of U.S. states and territories by population

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.

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. The population of Wyoming currently as of 2025 is 588,753.

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. Civilian and military federal employees serving abroad and their dependents are counted in their home state.

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.

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.

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). 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, although they may participate in the partisan nominating primaries and caucuses.

State and territory rankings

+U.S. states and territories by population State or territory Census population July 1, 2025 (est.) April 1, 2020 Seats %1 39,355,309 39,538,223 11.95% 732,189 760,350 11.800% 10.04%2 31,709,821 29,145,505 8.74% 728,638 766,987 8.698% 7.43%3 23,462,518 21,538,187 6.44% 717,940 769,221 6.428% 5.58%4 20,002,427 20,201,249 5.98% 721,473 776,971 6.029% 5.20%5 13,059,432 13,002,700 3.91% 684,353 764,865 3.881% 3.53%6 12,719,141 12,812,508 3.91% 674,343 753,677 3.824% 3.53%7 11,900,510 11,799,448 3.45% 694,085 786,630 3.521% 3.16%8 11,302,748 10,711,908 3.22% 669,494 765,136 3.197% 2.97%9 11,197,968 10,439,388 3.22% 652,462 745,671 3.116% 2.97%10 10,127,884 10,077,331 2.99% 671,822 775,179 3.008% 2.79%11 9,548,215 9,288,994 2.76% 663,500 774,083 2.772% 2.60%12 8,880,107 8,631,393 2.53% 663,953 784,672 2.576% 2.42%13 8,001,020 7,705,281 2.30% 642,107 770,528 2.300% 2.23%14 7,623,818 7,151,502 2.07% 650,137 794,611 2.134% 2.04%15 7,315,076 6,910,840 2.07% 628,258 767,871 2.062% 2.04%16 7,154,084 7,029,917 2.07% 639,083 781,102 2.098% 2.04%17 6,973,333 6,785,528 2.07% 616,866 753,948 2.025% 2.04%18 6,270,541 6,154,913 1.84% 615,491 769,364 1.837% 1.86%19 6,265,347 6,177,224 1.84% 617,722 772,153 1.844% 1.86%20 6,012,561 5,773,714 1.84% 577,371 721,714 1.723% 1.86%21 5,972,787 5,893,718 1.84% 589,372 736,715 1.759% 1.86%22 5,830,405 5,706,494 1.84% 570,649 713,312 1.703% 1.86%23 5,570,274 5,118,425 1.61% 568,714 731,204 1.528% 1.67%24 5,193,088 5,024,279 1.61% 558,253 717,754 1.499% 1.67%25 4,618,789 4,657,757 1.38% 582,220 776,293 1.390% 1.49%26 4,606,864 4,505,836 1.38% 563,230 750,973 1.345% 1.49%27 4,273,586 4,237,256 1.38% 529,657 706,209 1.265% 1.49%28 4,123,288 3,959,353 1.15% 565,622 791,871 1.182% 1.30%29 3,688,496 3,605,944 1.15% 515,135 721,189 1.076% 1.30%30 3,538,904 3,271,616 0.92% 545,269 817,904 0.976% 1.12%31 3,282,188 3,104,614 0.92% 517,436 776,154 0.927% 1.12%32 3,238,387 3,190,369 0.92% 531,728 797,592 0.952% 1.12%– 3,184,835 3,285,874 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. — — — 0.981% —33 3,114,791 3,011,524 0.92% 501,921 752,881 0.899% 1.12%34 2,977,220 2,937,880 0.92% 489,647 734,470 0.877% 1.12%35 2,954,160 2,961,279 0.92% 493,547 740,320 0.884% 1.12%36 2,125,498 2,117,522 0.69% 423,504 705,841 0.632% 0.93%37 2,029,733 1,839,106 0.46% 459,777 919,553 0.549% 0.74%38 2,018,006 1,961,504 0.69% 392,301 653,835 0.585% 0.93%39 1,766,147 1,793,716 0.46% 448,429 896,858 0.535% 0.74%40 1,432,820 1,455,271 0.46% 363,818 727,636 0.434% 0.74%41 1,415,342 1,377,529 0.46% 344,382 688,765 0.411% 0.74%42 1,414,874 1,362,359 0.46% 340,590 681,180 0.407% 0.74%43 1,144,694 1,084,225 0.46% 271,056 542,113 0.324% 0.74%44 1,114,521 1,097,379 0.46% 274,345 548,690 0.328% 0.74%45 1,059,952 989,948 0.23% 329,983 989,948 0.295% 0.56%46 935,094 886,667 0.23% 295,556 886,667 0.265% 0.56%47 799,358 779,094 0.23% 259,698 779,094 0.233% 0.56%48 737,270 733,391 0.23% 244,464 733,391 0.219% 0.56%– 693,645 689,545 1* — 229,848 — 0.206% 0.56%49 644,663 643,077 0.23% 214,359 643,077 0.192% 0.56%50 588,753 576,851 0.23% 192,284 576,851 0.172% 0.56%– 153,836 1* — — — 0.046% —– 87,146 1* — — — 0.026% —– 49,710 1* — — — 0.015% —– 47,329 1* — — — 0.014% — Contiguous United States 339,614,767 329,260,619 432(+1*) 99.31% 623,600 756,921 98.265% 98.70% The 50 states 341,091,212 330,759,736 435 100% 618,242 760,367 98.713% 99.44% The 50 states and D.C. 341,784,857 331,449,281 435(+1*) 100% 616,077 — 98.918% 100% Total US and territories 335,073,176 435(+6*) 100% — — 100% —

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

Summary of population by region 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 Column header abbreviations: # = Rank, Geo. = Geographic + Population of states, territories, divisions and region State/federal district/territory/division/region # 2020 pop. # 2010 pop. # 2000 pop. # 2010–2020change Geo. sort State/federal district/territory/division/region # 2020 pop. # 2010 pop. # 2000 pop. # 2010–2020change Geo. sort

List of U.S. states and territories by population

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