Map of states shaded by population density (2020)

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

2020 density by population rank and land area (states, territories, and the District of Columbia)
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

Gallery of U.S. States
  • New Jersey is the most densely populated state.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    Puerto Rico is the fourth most densely populated of states and possessions of the U.S.

See also

References

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ United Nations World Population Prospects Archived December 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Wiersdorf, G. William. "California Land Area". www.onlinecalifornia.us. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017.

External links

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