All 50 US States Ranked by Population, 2025

The 50 states and the District of Columbia are home to 341,784,857 people as of July 1, 2025 (US Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate). California leads with 39,355,309 residents, while Wyoming has 588,753 — a 67-to-1 ratio between the largest and smallest states.

Complete ranking: all 50 states and DC

Ranked 1–50 by population on July 1, 2025. Washington, DC sits in its population position but is left unranked, because it is not a state. Change is measured against the April 1, 2020 census; land area and people-per-square-mile use Census land area.

Key takeaways

• The top 10 states by population hold more than half the US total.
• California alone has more people than the bottom 21 states combined.
• Among the states, population density runs from 1,298/sq mi (New Jersey) down to 1.3/sq mi (Alaska). Washington, DC is denser than any state at 11,347/sq mi.
• The fastest-growing states by percentage are concentrated in the Sun Belt and Mountain West.

Population vs. area: the mismatch

The largest states by area are not the most populated. Alaska (571,409 sq mi of land) has fewer people than many single cities. Meanwhile, New Jersey (7,355 sq mi of land) packs 9,548,215 residents into an area smaller than many western counties.

To explore this visually, switch between "population" and "density" on our interactive county choropleth map. The difference is striking — the population map lights up metro areas while the density map reveals how much of the US is rural.

How population affects representation

The US House of Representatives allocates 435 seats proportionally by state population after each decennial census. Under the 2020 Census apportionment, California has 52 House seats, while 6 states — Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming — have just 1 each. (Montana regained a second seat in the 2020 apportionment.) The Senate gives every state 2 senators regardless of population.

The fastest-growing and fastest-shrinking states

Between the April 1, 2020 census and the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates for July 1, 2025, the five fastest-growing states by percentage are Idaho (+10.4%, +190,610), Florida (+8.9%, +1,924,311), South Carolina (+8.8%, +452,024), Texas (+8.8%, +2,560,323), Utah (+8.2%, +267,303). The common drivers are mild winters, lower state taxes, cheaper housing relative to the coastal metros people are leaving, and remote-work flexibility that decoupled job location from residence. Florida and Texas also draw large retiree inflows from the Northeast and Midwest.

Over the same window, 7 states lost population: Hawaii (−1.5%, −22,447), West Virginia (−1.5%, −27,612), New York (−1.0%, −201,269), Louisiana (−0.9%, −39,705), Illinois (−0.8%, −102,600), California (−0.5%, −200,394), Mississippi (−0.2%, −7,104). The drivers there are almost the inverse: aging populations with low birth rates, declining extractive or manufacturing industries, and high cost-of-living that pushes working-age families toward the Sun Belt. Pure-percentage rankings flatter small states, which is why analysts pair them with the absolute-number leaders — Texas (+2,560,323) and Florida (+1,924,311) added the most people.

Population density vs. total population

Total population tells you which states need the most schools, hospitals, and House seats; density tells you how those people are arranged on the land. New Jersey is the densest state at about 1,298 people per square mile of land — denser than many countries. Alaska is the emptiest at about 1.3 per square mile, which means a single Alaska Native village can be the only settlement in an area larger than Connecticut. Density drives the practical realities of governance: dense states run subways and county-wide school systems, while low-density states rely on volunteer fire departments, bush planes for medical evacuation, and federal land managers for most of what counties do elsewhere. You can see these patterns at the county level on the interactive choropleth map.

Where the data comes from

Three Census Bureau products account for almost every population figure you'll see cited. The Decennial Census is the constitutionally mandated complete count taken every ten years (most recently April 1, 2020); it's the legal basis for House apportionment and redistricting. The American Community Survey (ACS) samples about 3.5 million households a year and publishes rolling 1-year and 5-year estimates with income, age, race, and commuting data the decennial census no longer collects. The Population Estimates Program (PEP) produces annual state and county population estimates between censuses. The population figures on this page are the PEP Vintage 2025 estimates for July 1, 2025; land area is from the 2026 Census Gazetteer.

Related tools

• Population Within Radius — calculate the total population within any distance of a point
• US County Map — choropleth showing population, income, age, and more for every county
• Find Cities in Radius — list all cities within a distance, sorted by population
• Blank Map of the United States — free printable map with state and county boundaries

Data source

Population figures are the US Census Bureau's County Population Totals, Vintage 2025 (July 1, 2025 estimates, aggregated to state level). Land area is from the Census Bureau's 2026 Gazetteer files. All figures are US Census Bureau data in the public domain.

Frequently asked questions