Miss Teen USA 1988, the 6th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from San Bernardino, California on July 25, 1988. At the conclusion of the final competition, Mindy Duncan of Oregon was crowned by outgoing queen Kristi Addis of Mississippi.

This was the first of two years the pageant was held in San Bernardino. It was hosted by Dick Clark for the first time, He would later host the Miss USA Pageants from 1989 to 1993 and Miss Universe Pageants from 1990 to 1993 and returned to The Miss Teen USA Pageants in 1991 on CBS and remained as host until 1993, with color commentary from Tracy Scoggins.

This was also the last time the State Costume competition took place and would not return until thirty-three years later in 2021, under a different organization.

Contestant notes

• After competing in the preliminary competition and winning the Best State Costume award, Alison Moreno (California) was disqualified from the final competition after she left her room without a chaperone, contrary to pageant rules.^[1]
• Delegates who later competed in the Miss USA pageant were:
  • Jillayne Fossum (South Dakota) - Miss South Dakota USA 1991
  • Erin Nance (Georgia) - Miss Georgia USA 1993 (first runner-up at Miss USA 1993)
  • Jennifer Seminary (North Dakota) - Miss North Dakota USA 1993
  • Kristen Anderson (Montana) - Miss Montana USA 1993
  • Jill Vasquez (New Mexico) - Miss New Mexico USA 1994
  • Anna Mingus (Alabama) - Miss Alabama USA 1995
  • Audra Wilks (Virginia) - Miss Virginia USA 1997
• Jill Vasquez became one of the directors of the Miss California USA and Miss California Teen USA pageants in 2007.
• Jessica Collins became a successful actress who played Meredith Davies on Tru Calling.