New Jersey has the highest estimate (1,298.2 per sq mi); Alaska has the lowest (1.3 per sq mi). Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 / Gazetteer 2026, 2025.
50 ranked states; DC and Puerto Rico appear as reference rows where the source supplies them. Highest does not mean best.
Lowest state estimate1.3 per sq miAlaska
Highest state estimate1,298.2 per sq miNew Jersey
Each dot is a state. The scale runs from the lowest to highest estimate;
intervals are not shown here. Read about uncertainty.
State distribution and comparisons
The middle of the 50-state distribution is 108.6 per sq mi: the average of the 25th and 26th ordered state estimates. This treats each state equally, so it answers a different question from a population-weighted national estimate.
Are the smallest states the most densely settled?
These states’ ranks change the most between population density and land area. These comparisons identify different questions worth investigating; a rank gap does not measure a causal effect or a statistical difference between unlike units.
Residents per square mile of land: the July 1, 2025 population estimate divided by land area.
A statewide average. Most residents of large, sparsely populated states live in a few dense areas; density says nothing about how crowded a particular place is.
The size of the gap
The difference between the highest and lowest state estimates is 1,296.9 per sq mi. The U.S. benchmark is 96.7 per sq mi. It is not a simple average of the states.
27 states have point estimates above the U.S. benchmark and 23 below it. These counts do not establish statistical significance.
How much should you read into a rank?
The Census Bureau does not publish margins of error for population estimates, and land area has none. “Not published” means uncertainty is not quantified here, not that the estimates are exact.
Ranks use the full precision of the source file, so only truly equal values share a rank (1, 2, 2, 4).
July 1, 2025 resident population (Vintage 2025) / land area in square miles (2026 Gazetteer). The U.S. value uses the 50 states and DC. Rank = 1 + number of eligible jurisdictions with a higher value.
Coverage
The 50 states are ranked. Washington, D.C., can be added with the toggle above the table; Puerto Rico is shown for reference only, where the source covers it.
Cadence
Annual. Next annual population vintage; date subject to Census release schedule.
Independence
Rank the States is independent. The agencies that produce the source data do not endorse these rankings.
Last updated Oct. 23, 2026. Earlier editions stay available on the data page, and every change is listed in the update log. If a number or definition looks wrong, report an error with the state, value, and source you checked.
Related rankings
State distributions: each mark is one state, from lowest to highest. Each row
uses its own scale.