US States by Population (2025): Full Ranked List of All 50 States

California has the largest population of any U.S. state: 39,355,309 people on July 1, 2025. Texas is second with 31,709,821 and Florida third with 23,462,518. At the other end, Wyoming is the least populated state with 588,753 residents; California has 67 times as many people.

These numbers are the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 population estimates, released on January 27, 2026. They estimate the resident population on July 1, 2025 by starting from the 2020 Census and adding births, subtracting deaths and adding net migration. The country as a whole (50 states plus DC) reached 341,784,857, up 1,781,060 (0.5%) from a year earlier, which the Bureau describes as the slowest growth since the pandemic years because net international migration fell.

The full ranked list is below, followed by what changed since the 2020 Census and how density compares when you divide by land area.

Ranks run 1 to 50; the District of Columbia is listed in its place by size but not ranked, since it is not a state. "Change since 2020 Census" compares the July 2025 estimate with the April 1, 2020 resident count used for apportionment. Density divides the 2025 estimate by land area from the Census Bureau's 2026 Gazetteer file, so lakes, bays and coastal water are excluded.

Puerto Rico is not included in the table. Its Vintage 2025 estimate is published alongside the states, but it is a territory rather than a state.

The ten largest states hold 54.1% of all Americans, and the top nine alone (California through North Carolina) pass the halfway mark.

• California (39.4 million) is still first by a wide margin, but its 2025 estimate is 182,914 below its 2020 Census count, and it was one of five states that shrank between 2024 and 2025.
• Texas (31.7 million) added 2,564,316 people since the 2020 Census, the largest numeric gain of any state. Its 254 counties are the most of any state; see the Texas county list for each one.
• Florida (23.5 million) grew by 1,924,331, or +8.9%, and is now more than 3 million people ahead of New York. Its counties are listed on the Florida counties page.
• New York (20.0 million) and Illinois (12.7 million) both remain below their 2020 Census counts.

If you need the population of a place rather than a whole state, the population within a radius tool adds up Census ZIP Code Tabulation Area populations inside a circle you draw, which is closer to how a trade area or commute shed works than a state total.

The five smallest states by population are Wyoming (588,753), Vermont (644,663), Alaska (737,270), North Dakota (799,358) and South Dakota (935,094). The District of Columbia, with 693,645 residents, has more people than Wyoming and Vermont but is not a state.

Small population does not mean small area. Alaska is the largest state by area and the third smallest by population, which gives it the lowest density in the country at 1.3 people per square mile of land. Rhode Island is the smallest state by area but ranks 44th by population.

One way to see the spread: the 21 least populous states together have 38.3 million residents, still fewer than California alone. Those 21 states send 42 senators to Washington; California sends two.

Between the April 2020 Census and July 2025, the country grew by 10,335,576 people (+3.1%). Growth was uneven. The map shades each state by its percentage change.

• Fastest growth: Idaho grew +10.4%, followed by Florida, South Carolina and Texas (each close to +9%) and Utah.
• Largest numeric gains: Texas (+2,564,316), Florida (+1,924,331), North Carolina (+758,580) and Georgia (+590,840).
• Below their 2020 Census count: New York (−198,822), California (−182,914), Illinois (−93,367), Louisiana (−39,568), West Virginia (−27,569), Hawaii (−22,451), Mississippi (−7,119).
• Lost people between July 2024 and July 2025: California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont, West Virginia.

Keep in mind that these are estimates. Each new vintage revises every year back to 2020, so the 2024 figure in this vintage is not the same as the figure published a year ago. When you compare years, take both from the same vintage, as the table above does.

The Census Bureau groups the states into four regions, and the regional totals show the long shift toward the South more clearly than any single state:

The South (16 states plus DC, from Delaware and Maryland to Texas and Oklahoma) holds 39% of the population and accounted for 73% of all growth since 2020. The Northeast, the smallest region, grew +0.8% in five years, and the Midwest +1.1%.

Dividing population by land area gives a very different ranking. The national figure is 96.7 people per square mile of land.

• Most densely populated states: New Jersey (1,298 per sq mi), Rhode Island (1,078), Massachusetts (917), Connecticut (762) and Maryland (645).
• Least densely populated: Alaska (1.3), Wyoming (6.1), Montana (7.9), North Dakota (11.6) and South Dakota (12.3).
• The District of Columbia has 11,348 people per square mile, which is a city figure rather than a state one.

A statewide average hides most of the real variation, since nearly every state mixes dense metros with empty land. In New Jersey, Hudson County has 15,912 people per square mile and Salem County 200. In Alaska, the Anchorage municipality has 287,155 residents and a density of 168, while Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area has about one person per 33 square miles. For a sense of land area itself, the size comparison pages overlay states and countries at true scale.

Two different products feed this list, and mixing them is the most common error on population pages.

1. The decennial census counts everyone on April 1 of years ending in 0. The 2020 results (331,449,281 for the 50 states and DC) are fixed and set each state's seats in the House of Representatives until 2030.
2. The population estimates program publishes a new "vintage" every year with figures for July 1. Vintage 2025 covers April 1, 2020 through July 1, 2025 and replaces Vintage 2024 entirely.

Many sites show their own projections for the current year, labeled "2026 population", by extending the latest growth rate. Those are not Census numbers. Until the Census Bureau publishes Vintage 2026 (for July 1, 2026), July 1, 2025 is the newest official figure.

A few practical rules follow from that:

• Per-capita rates: divide by the estimate for the same year as your numerator. A 2025 count divided by a 2020 Census population overstates rates in fast-growing states such as Idaho and Texas by up to 9 or 10 percent.
• Comparing two years: take both from the same vintage. The 2024 column in Vintage 2025 already includes the revisions; the 2024 number you saved last year does not.
• Political questions: House seats and Electoral College votes still follow the 2020 Census counts, not the yearly estimates, until the 2030 Census is apportioned.
• Sub-state areas: a state total says little about a county or metro. Counties can be bigger than whole states: Los Angeles County, with 9,694,934 residents in 2025, has more people than 40 of the 50 states. Our list of the largest counties in the US ranks them by area and population.

Land area comes from the Census Bureau Gazetteer, which reports land and water area for each state from the same boundary database the Bureau uses for its maps. Our own interactive maps use generalized 1:10,000,000 Census boundaries, so they are for display; the area numbers in the table come from the Gazetteer.