US States - Ranked by Population 2024

District of Columbia and Puerto Rico

The United States as a whole is the third-most-populous country in the world, with an estimated population of 339,172,809 people as of January 2023. Within that total, however, the individual states showcase a vast range of populations, from more than 40 million residents in California to fewer than a million in Wyoming.

Top 10 US States with the Largest Populations*:

By far the most populous state in the United States is California, which has more than 40 million residents and comprises nearly 12% of the country’s total population. If California were a country, it would have the fourth- or fifth-largest economy in the world and the 38th-highest population, ahead of countries including Canada, Australia, Peru, and Greece.

Texas has the second-largest population of any US state, with more than 30 million residents (9% of the US total) as of 2023. Moreover, Texas has a growth rate of 1.34% per year, while California’s growth rate is notably lower at 0.57%. The impact of such differing growth rates is obvious when viewed over time: Since 2010, the population of Texas has increased by more than 20%, while California has grown just under 12%.

The third-most-populated state in the US is Florida, with a population of more than 22.3 million and a growth rate of 1.24% per year, and the state of New York ranks fourth. About half of the 20.40 million people who live in the state of New York reside in New York City. It is notable that the three most populous states in the US are among the top ten states with the longest coastlines, and both California and Texas are among the largest states in the union by land area.

States in New England, along the Northeast seaboard, tend to be quite small geographically but with higher populations. Rhode Island (pop. 1,110,822) is the smallest state by land area, but it has a higher population than many larger states, including Alaska (740,339), both North and South Dakota (811,044 and 908,414, respectively), and Wyoming (580,817).

Top 10 US States with the Smallest Populations**:

The smallest state by population is Wyoming, with fewer than 600,000 residents and an annual growth rate that has trended negative at times in the past. As of early 2023, however, the only states with negative growth rates were West Virginia (-0.33%), Mississippi (-0.02%), and Illinois (-0.01%).

Puerto Rico is a territory rather than a state, despite the fact that it has a larger population than 18 US states in 2023. However, Puerto Rico is also experiencing negative population growth (-1.38%), higher than any state in the Continental US. The District of Columbia, known more commonly as Washington DC, is also not a state (rather, it is a Federal District). However, if it were, its population of 715,891 would qualify it as the third-smallest state. Washington DC posts a growth rate of 1.24%.

Population Distribution in the United States

The population of the United States is distributed unevenly across the 50 states, Washington DC, and territories such as Puerto Rico. States on the country's border tend to be the most populous, whether they be located on the West Coast (California), the East Coast (New York, Florida, arguably Pennsylvania), or the southern border (Texas, Florida again). Conversely, interior states such as those in the Great Plains and Midwest tend to be less populous. However, exceptions do exist—for example, the Great Lakes state of Illinois has the sixth-largest population of any state despite its Midwestern location.

Most states in the US are currently experiencing population growth. The greatest rate of growth at the start of 2023 belonged to Utah (1.50%), followed by Idaho (1.43%) and Texas (1.34%). By comparison, the state with the lowest population growth at the start of 2023 was West Virginia, whose population shrank by 0.33%.

Top 10 US States with the Highest and Lowest Growth Rates***: