Delaware vs Rhode Island Size: How Much Bigger Is Delaware?

By Marko Visic · Updated Nov 11, 2026

Delaware has 1,949 sq mi of land and Rhode Island 1,034 sq mi, so by land area Delaware is 1.88× Rhode Island. They are the two smallest states, 49th and 50th. Rhode Island still has more people, 1,114,521 against 1,059,952 on July 1, 2025, which makes it the second most densely populated state after New Jersey.

Rhode Island (amber) drawn over Delaware (outlined), both to scale in the US Albers equal-area projection. Delaware has 1.88× Rhode Island's land area, 915 sq mi more.

Check this for yourself

Drag Rhode Island onto Delaware in the interactive tool

The tool keeps each state's true area as you move it to any latitude.

Open in the comparison tool

Delaware vs Rhode Island by the numbers

Metric	Delaware	Rhode Island	Ratio
Land area (sq mi)	1,949	1,034	Delaware 1.88×
Total area incl. water (sq mi)	2,489	1,545	Delaware 1.61×
Water share of total area	21.7%	33.1%
Population (July 1, 2025)	1,059,952	1,114,521	Rhode Island 1.05×
People per sq mi of land	544	1,078	Rhode Island 1.98×
GDP, current US$ (2025)	$121.9 billion	$88.2 billion	Delaware 1.38×
General coastline, NOAA 1975 (mi)	28	40	Rhode Island 1.43×
Tidal shoreline, NOAA (mi)	381	384	Rhode Island 1.01×
Highest point	Ebright Azimuth, 448 ft	Jerimoth Hill, 812 ft	Rhode Island 1.81×
Rank by land area (of 50)	49th	50th
Rank by density (of 50)	6th	2nd
Counties	3	5
Ratified the Constitution	December 7, 1787 (1st)	May 29, 1790 (13th)

Ratios divide the larger figure by the smaller. General coastline and tidal shoreline are two different NOAA measures and are not compared with each other.

How much bigger is Delaware than Rhode Island?

By land area Delaware is 1.88× Rhode Island: 1,949 sq mi against 1,034 sq mi in the Census Bureau's 2010 measurements. The difference, 915 sq mi, is 88% of Rhode Island's own land area. By total area, which adds inland, coastal and territorial water, the ratio is 1.61×: 2,489 against 1,545 sq mi. Water makes up 33% of Rhode Island's total area and 22% of Delaware's.

Rhode Island is the smallest state on both measures and Delaware the second smallest. The next state up, Connecticut, has 4,842 sq mi of land, 2.5× Delaware's. At the other end of the table, Alaska's land area is 293 times Delaware's and 552 times Rhode Island's.

Population: Rhode Island has more people on less land

On July 1, 2025 Rhode Island had 1,114,521 residents and Delaware 1,059,952 (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025): 54,569 more people in Rhode Island, 5% more, on 47% less land. Delaware is growing faster: it added 9,829 residents in the year to July 1, 2025 (0.9%), Rhode Island 4,106 (0.4%).

Per square mile of land that is 1,078 people in Rhode Island and 544 in Delaware, 1.98× as dense. Among the 50 states Rhode Island ranks 2nd for density, after New Jersey, and Delaware 6th.

Delaware has the larger economy. The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts its 2025 GDP at $121.9 billion and Rhode Island's at $88.2 billion in current dollars, 1.38× as much: about $115,043 per resident in Delaware and $79,174 in Rhode Island.

Coastline: Rhode Island has the most for its size in the lower 48

NOAA's general coastline, published in 1975 and taken from large-scale nautical charts, is 40 miles for Rhode Island and 28 for Delaware. Per 100 sq mi of land that is 3.9 miles in Rhode Island, more than any other state in the lower 48, and 1.4 miles in Delaware. On NOAA's tidal shoreline, which also follows sounds, bays, rivers and creeks to the head of tidewater, the two are almost level: 384 miles for Rhode Island and 381 for Delaware.

The first state and the last of the thirteen

Delaware: December 7, 1787

Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution, on December 7, 1787, by a unanimous 30 to 0 vote of its convention (National Archives). The US Senate counts it as the first state to join the Union.

Rhode Island: May 29, 1790

Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen original states to ratify. Its voters had rejected the Constitution in a referendum in March 1788. Threatened with being treated as a foreign government, the state called a ratifying convention in 1790, which ratified on May 29, 1790, by two votes (National Archives). The US Senate counts Rhode Island as the 13th state.

Counties: three in Delaware, five in Rhode Island

Delaware has three counties (Kent, New Castle and Sussex), the fewest of any state in the Census Bureau's 2020 county list, and all three are coded as active governments. Rhode Island's five (Bristol, Kent, Newport, Providence and Washington) are coded as “nonfunctioning legal entities”: they exist in law but have no county government. Connecticut's eight counties carry the same code, and no other state has every county coded that way.

Drawn to scale: Delaware next to Rhode Island

Both states at the same area per pixel. Delaware is 96 miles long and 9 to 35 miles wide, according to the State of Delaware.

Delaware and Rhode Island drawn to scale in the US Albers equal-area projection (standard parallels 29.5°N and 45.5°N).

Computed from our map data with a Mercator projection, Rhode Island is drawn at 1.79× its true area and Delaware at 1.66×, so on a Mercator web map Delaware looks about 1.7× Rhode Island's size instead of 1.88×.

Methodology and sources

Area: US Census Bureau, State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates (2010). Total area adds inland, coastal and territorial water to the land; marsh and swamp count as land. Ranks are among the 50 states.
Population: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates (July 1, 2025). Density divides the July 1, 2025 population by the 2010 land area.
GDP: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by state (2025, current dollars). GDP per resident divides it by the July 1, 2025 population.
Coastline: NOAA, The Coastline of the United States (1975): general coastline by state, as reprinted in Congressional Research Service report RS21729; NOAA Office for Coastal Management, Shoreline Mileage of the United States (tidal shoreline).
Highest points and Delaware’s dimensions: US Geological Survey, Elevations and Distances in the United States: Highest and Lowest Elevations (a USGS reference table); State of Delaware, Delaware Facts & Symbols (Ebright Azimuth, 447.85 ft; length and width). Both retrieved November 11, 2026; meters are converted from feet.
Ratification and statehood: National Archives, Observing Constitution Day: Ratification; US Senate, States in the Senate: Delaware and US Senate, States in the Senate: Rhode Island. Retrieved November 11, 2026.
Counties: US Census Bureau, 2020 FIPS codes for counties and county equivalents; what the codes mean: US Census Bureau, Class Codes and US Census Bureau, Functional Status Codes. Retrieved November 11, 2026.
Countries: CIA World Factbook, final edition, land area: Trinidad and Tobago, Luxembourg and Samoa. Square miles are converted from the Factbook's square kilometers.
Drawings and Mercator factors: Shapes from us-atlas (US Census Bureau cartographic boundaries) and world-atlas (Natural Earth 1:50m) for the drawings. The Mercator factors are computed from the same map data with a Mercator projection.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Delaware has 1,949 sq mi of land and Rhode Island 1,034 sq mi (US Census Bureau, 2010), so Delaware is 1.88× Rhode Island by land area. By total area, water included, the ratio is 1.61× (2,489 against 1,545 sq mi).

By 915 sq mi of land, which is 88% of Rhode Island's own land area. Delaware's land area would hold 1.88 Rhode Islands.

Yes, by land area and by total area: 1,034 and 1,545 sq mi. Delaware is the second smallest on both. The next state up, Connecticut, has 4,842 sq mi of land (US Census Bureau, 2010).

Rhode Island: 1,114,521 residents on July 1, 2025, against Delaware's 1,059,952 (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025), 5% more. Delaware grew faster in the year to July 1, 2025: 0.9% against 0.4%.

Rhode Island, with 1,078 people per square mile of land against Delaware's 544. Rhode Island ranks 2nd among the 50 states for density, after New Jersey, and Delaware 6th.

Delaware. The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Delaware's 2025 GDP at $121.9 billion and Rhode Island's at $88.2 billion in current dollars, 1.38× as much, or about $115,043 per resident against $79,174.

Rhode Island. NOAA's general coastline (1975) gives Rhode Island 40 miles and Delaware 28. Per 100 sq mi of land that is 3.9 miles in Rhode Island, the most of any state in the lower 48, and 1.4 in Delaware. On NOAA's tidal shoreline the two are almost level: 384 and 381 miles.

Rhode Island. Jerimoth Hill rises to 812 ft (247 m). Delaware's high point, Ebright Azimuth near the Pennsylvania line, is 448 ft (137 m), the second-lowest state high point in the US Geological Survey's table, after Florida's Britton Hill (345 ft).

Delaware ratified the Constitution first, on December 7, 1787, by a 30 to 0 vote of its convention. Rhode Island, whose voters had rejected it in a referendum in March 1788, ratified last of the thirteen original states, on May 29, 1790, by two votes (National Archives).

Delaware has three, the fewest of any state, and Rhode Island five (Census Bureau, 2020 county list). Rhode Island's counties are coded as nonfunctioning legal entities, with no county government, and so are Connecticut's; every other state has at least one county coded as an active government.

On CIA World Factbook land areas, Trinidad and Tobago (1,980 sq mi) is about the size of Delaware, and Luxembourg (998 sq mi) and Samoa (1,089 sq mi) are about the size of Rhode Island.

Related size comparisons

Open Delaware and Rhode Island in the interactive tool
California vs Florida: California is 2.90× Florida (land area).
Texas vs California: Texas is 1.68× California (land area).
Texas vs Alaska: Alaska is 2.18× Texas (land area).
Alaska vs California: Alaska is 3.66× California (land area).
Alaska vs Lower 48: The lower 48 is 5.18× Alaska (land area).
UK vs USA: The USA is 40.37× the UK (total area).
Delaware's 3 counties and Rhode Island's 5 counties
All size comparisons

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). Delaware vs Rhode Island Size: How Much Bigger Is Delaware? Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/delaware-vs-rhode-island. CC-BY 4.0.