US States - Ranking by Population 2026

The United States as a whole is the third-most-populous country in the world, with an estimated population of 347,276,000 people as of January 2025. Within that total, however, the individual states showcase a vast range of populations, from about 40 million residents in California to fewer than a million in Wyoming.

Most and Least Populous States

The Most Populous The Least Populous

	State	Population ↓	Annual Change
	California	39,345,844	-0.02%
	Texas	32,101,064	1.23%
	Florida	23,659,198	0.84%
	New York	20,003,435	0.01%
	Pennsylvania	13,073,016	0.1%
	Illinois	12,735,249	0.13%
	Ohio	11,940,399	0.34%
	Georgia	11,401,288	0.87%
	North Carolina	11,343,875	1.3%
	Michigan	10,155,806	0.28%

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	State	Population ↑	Annual Change
	Wyoming	590,784	0.34%
	Vermont	642,805	-0.29%
	Alaska	738,003	0.1%
	North Dakota	805,329	0.75%
	South Dakota	943,078	0.85%
	Delaware	1,069,781	0.93%
	Rhode Island	1,118,627	0.37%
	Montana	1,151,831	0.62%
	Maine	1,421,310	0.46%
	New Hampshire	1,422,166	0.48%

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By far the most populous state in the United States is California, which has nearly 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. 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 Dakota and South Dakota (811,044 and 908,414, respectively), and Wyoming (580,817).

Population Distribution

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 belongs to Florida (2.0%), followed by Texas (1.8%) and Utah (1.72%). By comparison, the state with the lowest population growth is Vermont, whose population shrank by 0.03%.