
This is a list of the 50 states, the 5 territories, and the District of Columbia by population density, population size, and land area. It also includes a sortable table of density by states, territories, divisions, and regions by population rank and land area, and a sortable table for density by states, divisions, regions, and territories in square miles and square kilometers.
Population density is defined as the population per (divided by) land area. Resident population is from the 2020 census.[1] Land area is from the 2010 census.[2]
The population density of the United States is lower than that of many other countries because of the United States' large land area. There are large, sparsely populated areas in parts of the US, like the east-to-west stretch extending from the outskirts of Seattle all the way to Minneapolis, or the north-to-south portion from northern Montana to southern New Mexico, excluding Denver. For comparison, the population density of the U.S. is 1/15 that of South Korea and 1/12 that of India and the Netherlands. On the other hand, it is over 8 times higher than that of Canada and over 9 times higher than that of Australia.[3]
2020 population density by arithmetic density
Jurisdiction | Population density | Population | Land area | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank (all) |
Rank (50 states) |
per mi2 |
per km2 |
Rank | People | Rank | mi2 | km2 | |
District of Columbia | 1 | — | 11295 | 4361 | 50 | 689,545 | 56 | 61 | 158.0 |
New Jersey | 2 | 1 | 1263 | 488 | 11 | 9,288,994 | 46 | 7,354 | 19,046.8 |
Rhode Island | 3 | 2 | 1061 | 410 | 44 | 1,097,379 | 51 | 1,034 | 2,678.0 |
Puerto Rico | 4 | — | 960 | 371 | 30 | 3,285,874 | 49 | 3,515 | 9,103.8 |
Massachusetts | 5 | 3 | 901 | 348 | 15 | 7,029,917 | 45 | 7,800 | 20,201.9 |
Connecticut | 6 | 4 | 745 | 288 | 29 | 3,605,944 | 48 | 4,842 | 12,540.7 |
Guam | 7 | — | 733 | 283 | 53 | 153,836 | 52 | 210 | 543.9 |
American Samoa | 8 | — | 650 | 251 | 55 | 49,710 | 55 | 77 | 199.4 |
US Virgin Islands | 9 | — | 649 | 251 | 54 | 87,146 | 54 | 134 | 347.1 |
Maryland | 10 | 5 | 636 | 246 | 18 | 6,177,224 | 42 | 9,707 | 25,141.0 |
Delaware | 11 | 6 | 508 | 196 | 46 | 989,948 | 50 | 1,949 | 5,047.9 |
New York | 12 | 7 | 429 | 166 | 4 | 20,201,249 | 30 | 47,126 | 122,055.8 |
Florida | 13 | 8 | 402 | 155 | 3 | 21,538,187 | 26 | 53,625 | 138,888.1 |
Pennsylvania | 14 | 9 | 291 | 112 | 5 | 13,002,700 | 32 | 44,743 | 115,883.8 |
Ohio | 15 | 10 | 289 | 111 | 7 | 11,799,448 | 35 | 40,861 | 105,829.5 |
Northern Mariana Islands | 16 | — | 260 | 100 | 56 | 47,329 | 53 | 179 | 463.6 |
California | 17 | 11 | 254 | 98.0 | 1 | 39,538,223 | 3 | 155,959[4] | 403,932.0 |
Illinois | 18 | 12 | 231 | 89.1 | 6 | 12,812,508 | 24 | 55,519 | 143,793.5 |
Hawaii | 19 | 13 | 227 | 87.5 | 41 | 1,455,271 | 47 | 6,423 | 16,635.5 |
Virginia | 20 | 14 | 219 | 84.4 | 12 | 8,631,393 | 36 | 39,490 | 102,278.6 |
North Carolina | 21 | 15 | 215 | 82.9 | 8 | 10,439,388 | 29 | 48,618 | 125,920.0 |
Indiana | 22 | 16 | 189 | 73.1 | 17 | 6,785,528 | 38 | 35,826 | 92,788.9 |
Georgia | 23 | 17 | 186 | 71.9 | 9 | 10,214,860 | 21 | 57,513 | 148,958.0 |
Michigan | 24 | 18 | 178 | 68.8 | 10 | 10,077,331 | 22 | 56,539 | 146,435.3 |
South Carolina | 25 | 19 | 170 | 65.7 | 23 | 5,118,425 | 40 | 30,061 | 77,857.6 |
Tennessee | 26 | 20 | 168 | 64.7 | 16 | 6,910,840 | 34 | 41,235 | 106,798.2 |
New Hampshire | 27 | 21 | 154 | 59.4 | 42 | 1,377,529 | 44 | 8,953 | 23,188.2 |
Washington | 28 | 22 | 116 | 44.8 | 13 | 7,705,281 | 20 | 66,456 | 172,120.2 |
Kentucky | 29 | 23 | 114 | 44.1 | 26 | 4,505,836 | 37 | 39,486 | 102,268.3 |
Texas | 30 | 24 | 112 | 43.1 | 2 | 29,145,505 | 2 | 261,232 | 676,587.8 |
Wisconsin | 31 | 25 | 109 | 42.0 | 20 | 5,893,718 | 25 | 54,158 | 140,268.6 |
Louisiana | 32 | 26 | 108 | 41.6 | 25 | 4,657,757 | 33 | 43,204 | 111,897.8 |
Alabama | 33 | 27 | 99.2 | 38.3 | 24 | 5,024,279 | 28 | 50,645 | 131,169.9 |
Missouri | 34 | 28 | 89.5 | 34.6 | 19 | 6,154,913 | 18 | 68,742 | 178,041.0 |
West Virginia | 35 | 29 | 74.6 | 28.8 | 40 | 1,793,716 | 41 | 24,038 | 62,258.1 |
Minnesota | 36 | 30 | 71.7 | 27.7 | 22 | 5,706,494 | 14 | 79,627 | 206,233.0 |
Vermont | 37 | 31 | 69.8 | 26.9 | 51 | 643,077 | 43 | 9,217 | 23,871.9 |
Mississippi | 38 | 32 | 63.1 | 24.4 | 35 | 2,961,279 | 31 | 46,923 | 121,530.0 |
Arizona | 39 | 33 | 63.0 | 24.3 | 14 | 7,151,502 | 6 | 113,594 | 294,207.1 |
Arkansas | 40 | 34 | 57.9 | 22.3 | 34 | 3,011,524 | 27 | 52,035 | 134,770.0 |
Oklahoma | 41 | 35 | 57.7 | 22.3 | 28 | 3,959,353 | 19 | 68,595 | 177,660.2 |
Iowa | 42 | 36 | 57.1 | 22.1 | 32 | 3,190,369 | 23 | 55,857 | 144,669.0 |
Colorado | 43 | 37 | 55.7 | 21.5 | 21 | 5,773,714 | 8 | 103,642 | 268,431.5 |
Maine | 44 | 38 | 44.2 | 17.1 | 43 | 1,363,359 | 39 | 30,843 | 79,883.0 |
Oregon | 45 | 39 | 44.1 | 17.0 | 27 | 4,237,256 | 10 | 95,988 | 248,607.8 |
Utah | 46 | 40 | 39.8 | 15.4 | 31 | 3,271,616 | 12 | 82,170 | 212,819.3 |
Kansas | 47 | 41 | 35.9 | 13.9 | 36 | 2,937,880 | 13 | 81,759 | 211,754.8 |
Nevada | 48 | 42 | 28.3 | 10.9 | 33 | 3,104,614 | 7 | 109,781 | 284,331.5 |
Nebraska | 49 | 43 | 25.5 | 9.9 | 38 | 1,961,504 | 15 | 76,824 | 198,973.2 |
Idaho | 50 | 44 | 22.3 | 8.6 | 39 | 1,839,106 | 11 | 82,643 | 214,044.4 |
New Mexico | 51 | 45 | 17.5 | 6.7 | 37 | 2,117,522 | 5 | 121,298 | 314,160.4 |
South Dakota | 52 | 46 | 11.7 | 4.5 | 47 | 886,667 | 16 | 75,811 | 196,349.6 |
North Dakota | 53 | 47 | 11.3 | 4.4 | 48 | 779,094 | 17 | 69,001 | 178,711.8 |
Montana | 54 | 48 | 7.5 | 2.9 | 45 | 1,084,225 | 4 | 145,546 | 376,962.4 |
Wyoming | 55 | 49 | 5.9 | 2.3 | 52 | 576,851 | 9 | 97,093 | 251,469.7 |
Alaska | 56 | 50 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 49 | 733,391 | 1 | 570,641 | 1,477,953.4 |
Total | - | - | 94.8 | 36.6 | - | 335,073,176 | - | 3,536,202 | 9,158,721 |
Gallery
- New Jersey is the most densely populated state.
- New York is home to the most populous city in the country, and ranks 7th among the states in density.
- Despite a small population, Vermont has fairly average population density because of its small area.
- Idaho's population has increased rapidly in recent decades, but its population density is lower than other states.
- About half of the population of Alaska lives in the Anchorage metropolitan area.
- Puerto Rico is the fourth most densely populated of states and possessions of the U.S.
See also
References
- ↑ "Change in Resident Population of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: 1910 to 2020" (PDF). Census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ↑ "State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates". 2010 United States Census. United States Census Bureau. February 11, 2011. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ↑ United Nations World Population Prospects Archived December 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Wiersdorf, G. William. "California Land Area". www.onlinecalifornia.us. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017.