Maharashtra is a state located in western India. Its population is 112,372,972, which makes it the second most populous state behind Uttar Pradesh. The population makes up over 9% of India’s total population. One of the most significant things to note about Maharashtra is that it has the wealthiest economy of any state in India.
The state’s population density is 370 residents per square kilometer (950 people living per square mile). It has a total area of over 307,713 square kilometers (118,809 square miles) and is the third largest state in the nation by area.
Most of the Maharashtra population are Marathis. However, there are other major castes and tribes that live in Maharashtra, including Maratha, Kunbi, Muslim, Bhil, Christian and Jain. Scheduled castes make up 11.8% of the population, while scheduled tribes make up 8.9% of the population.
The primary religion in the state is Hinduism, which is practiced by 79.8% of the population. Other religions observed in Maharashtra include Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and Sikhism.
There are more males than females living in Maharashtra, with 925 females for every 1,000 males – lower than the national average. The literacy rate of the state is over 83%, with nearly 90% of males being literate and 75.48% of females being literate.
The state’s official language is Marathi, which is spoken by almost 69% of the total population. Other languages include Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati, while over 10% of the population speaks other dialects. The state has a thriving economy and is considered to be the wealthiest state in India. It is also the most industrialized. Approximately 55% of the population lives in rural areas.
The state’s population exceeds 112 million, and it has seen significant growth in recent years. For years, the growth rate exceeded the national average, while population numbers in 2011 showed that the population growth had finally fallen below the national average. However, given the state of the economy, it is expected that growth will continue long into the future for this thriving Indian state.
| City | 2026 Pop. ↓ | Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi | 35,518,400 | 2.46% |
| Mumbai | 22,539,300 | 2.04% |
| Kolkata | 16,151,400 | 1.93% |
| Bangalore | 14,771,700 | 2.61% |
| Chennai | 12,623,100 | 2.33% |
| Hyderabad | 11,608,400 | 2.39% |
| Ahmedabad | 9,272,670 | 2.33% |
| Surat | 8,820,660 | 2.78% |
| Pune | 7,706,270 | 2.4% |
| Kozhikode | 4,520,410 | 3.03% |
| Jaipur | 4,514,920 | 2.35% |
| Malappuram | 4,487,920 | 3.31% |
| Lucknow | 4,228,750 | 2.33% |
| Indore | 3,570,830 | 2.53% |
| Kanpur | 3,410,920 | 1.96% |
| Nagpur | 3,237,750 | 2.13% |
| Coimbatore | 3,234,160 | 2.39% |
| Thiruvananthapuram | 3,156,950 | 2.75% |
| Bhopal | 2,748,760 | 2.33% |
| Patna | 2,748,390 | 2.19% |
| Agra | 2,535,490 | 2.31% |
| Kannur | 2,524,680 | 2.42% |
| Visakhapatnam | 2,496,820 | 2.31% |
| Vadodara | 2,478,540 | 2.21% |
| Vijayawada | 2,409,770 | 2.51% |
| Nashik | 2,408,010 | 2.42% |
| Kollam | 2,317,980 | 2.92% |
| Rajkot | 2,203,310 | 2.46% |
| Ludhiana | 2,071,490 | 2.11% |
| Raipur | 1,974,130 | 2.63% |
| Raipur | 1,974,130 | 2.63% |
| Raipur | 1,974,130 | 2.63% |
| Madurai | 1,953,270 | 2.18% |
| Meerut | 1,916,080 | 2.2% |
| Varanasi | 1,865,080 | 2.14% |
| Tiruppur | 1,833,070 | 2.77% |
| Srinagar | 1,818,570 | 2.3% |
| Srinagar | 1,818,570 | 2.3% |
| Aurangabad | 1,809,600 | 2.39% |
| Aurangabad | 1,809,600 | 2.39% |
| Jamshedpur | 1,806,600 | 2.2% |
| Jodhpur | 1,703,860 | 2.37% |
| Jodhpur | 1,703,860 | 2.37% |
| Ranchi | 1,659,720 | 2.34% |
| Kota | 1,639,630 | 2.52% |
| Kota | 1,639,630 | 2.52% |
| Kota | 1,639,630 | 2.52% |
| Jabalpur | 1,615,460 | 2.1% |
| Asansol | 1,598,450 | 2.12% |
| Gwalior | 1,578,940 | 2.3% |
| Allahabad | 1,555,900 | 2.11% |
| Amritsar | 1,543,480 | 2.14% |
| Dhanbad | 1,471,280 | 2.04% |
| Bareilly | 1,446,270 | 2.34% |
| Aligarh | 1,413,060 | 2.43% |
| Moradabad | 1,403,580 | 2.46% |
| Mysore | 1,375,940 | 2.25% |
| Tiruchirappalli | 1,296,500 | 2.1% |
| Chandigarh | 1,293,580 | 2.18% |
| Saharanpur | 1,275,830 | 2.68% |
| Guwahati | 1,250,320 | 2.14% |
| Salem | 1,247,700 | 2.21% |
| Jalandhar | 1,193,480 | 2.22% |
| Solapur | 1,130,210 | 1.99% |
| Warangal | 1,105,740 | 2.34% |
| Guntur | 984,920 | 2.34% |
| Firozabad | 965,089 | 2.48% |
| Bhiwandi | 964,215 | 2.15% |
| Puducherry | 962,874 | 2.33% |
| Cherthala | 958,336 | 2.94% |
| Kottayam | 914,278 | 3.26% |
| Nellore | 879,934 | 2.46% |
| Bikaner | 872,688 | 2.2% |
| Muzaffarnagar | 858,867 | 2.61% |
| Amravati | 842,613 | 2.14% |
| Gorakhpur | 832,937 | 2% |
| Gorakhpur | 832,937 | 2% |
| Cuttack | 821,467 | 2.06% |
| Tirupati | 818,428 | 2.65% |
| Malegaon | 817,947 | 2.28% |
| Belgaum | 817,205 | 2.19% |
| Mangalore | 795,066 | 2.1% |
| Kurnool | 784,461 | 2.5% |
| Bhavnagar | 783,199 | 2.13% |
| Gulbarga | 768,923 | 2.28% |
| Jammu | 766,223 | 1.96% |
| Durgapur | 756,574 | 2.14% |
| Durgapur | 756,574 | 2.14% |
| Jhansi | 722,089 | 2.16% |
| Erode | 721,376 | 2.24% |
| Jamnagar | 704,603 | 1.97% |
| Patiala | 701,719 | 2.45% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Raurkela | 690,942 | 2.07% |
| Agartala | 687,817 | 2.6% |
| Ujjain | 682,864 | 2.17% |
| Kolhapur | 682,552 | 2.02% |
| Mathura | 680,262 | 2.36% |
| Imphal | 679,030 | 2.5% |
| Ajmer | 678,309 | 2.05% |
| Hosur | 668,932 | 3.48% |
| Sangli | 649,082 | 2.09% |
| Udaipur | 643,855 | 2.21% |
| Udaipur | 643,855 | 2.21% |
| Udaipur | 643,855 | 2.21% |
| Jalgaon | 642,970 | 2.25% |
| Jalgaon | 642,970 | 2.25% |
| Vellore | 639,404 | 2.16% |
| Gaya | 637,382 | 2.19% |
| Tirunelveli | 629,329 | 2.09% |
| Panipat | 625,020 | 2.27% |
| Rajahmundry | 605,469 | 2.1% |
| Begusarai | 605,096 | 3.16% |
| Bellary | 599,562 | 2.33% |
| Purnia | 581,955 | 2.73% |
| Muzaffarpur | 580,553 | 2.33% |
| Kakinada | 575,776 | 2.14% |
| Latur | 549,439 | 2.3% |
| Bhagalpur | 536,667 | 2.14% |
| Rohtak | 534,040 | 2.29% |
| Shillong | 532,490 | 2.37% |
| Raniganj | 523,490 | 3.07% |
| Anantapur | 522,676 | 2.41% |
| Bhilwara | 519,048 | 2.31% |
| Yamunanagar | 506,441 | 2.16% |
| Alwar | 492,649 | 2.31% |
| Sagar | 492,371 | 2.17% |
| Dhulian | 490,720 | 2.9% |
| Akola | 490,505 | 1.94% |
| Rampur | 484,287 | 2.24% |
| Rampur | 484,287 | 2.24% |
| Rampur | 484,287 | 2.24% |
| Gandhidham | 478,879 | 2.79% |
| Ottappalam | 478,032 | 2.86% |
| Baharampur | 476,182 | 2.44% |
| Bijapur | 475,590 | 2.32% |
| Karnal | 470,104 | 2.43% |
| Barddhaman | 468,105 | 2.2% |
| Korba | 465,712 | 2.1% |
| Karimnagar | 461,530 | 2.43% |
| Brahmapur | 455,415 | 2.11% |
| Junagadh | 454,309 | 2.28% |
| Dindigul | 449,246 | 2.41% |
| Ahmadnagar | 440,670 | 1.95% |
| Anand | 429,770 | 2.36% |
| Bihar Sharif | 428,280 | 2.31% |
| Roorkee | 426,951 | 2.67% |
| Bathinda | 425,092 | 2.36% |
| Aizawl | 424,478 | 2.31% |
| Shimoga | 419,532 | 2.14% |
| Karur | 416,661 | 2.66% |
| Tumkur | 408,050 | 2.2% |
| Ichalkaranji | 407,139 | 2.07% |
| Dewas | 405,021 | 2.26% |
| Parbhani | 402,845 | 2.15% |
| Hisar | 395,351 | 2.12% |
| Khammam | 391,864 | 2.37% |
| Haldwani | 391,478 | 2.57% |
| Darbhanga | 390,728 | 2.1% |
| Habra | 390,202 | 2.14% |
| Satna | 389,835 | 2.23% |
| Farrukhabad | 387,804 | 2.17% |
| Jalna | 384,665 | 2.2% |
| Arrah | 378,233 | 2.31% |
| Hapur | 364,613 | 2.24% |
| Nizamabad | 364,301 | 1.96% |
| Nizamabad | 364,301 | 1.96% |
| Kharagpur | 358,954 | 2% |
| Kharagpur | 358,954 | 2% |
| Ratlam | 353,657 | 2.13% |
| New Delhi | 257,803 | 0.98% |
