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Population by state

California has the highest estimate (39,355,309); Wyoming has the lowest (588,753). Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025, 2025.

Data year: July 1, 2025Source released Jan. 27, 2026Last updated Oct. 23, 2026NST-EST2025-ALLDATA

50 ranked states; DC and Puerto Rico appear as reference rows where the source supplies them. Highest does not mean best.

Lowest state estimate 588,753 Wyoming
Highest state estimate 39,355,309 California
California: 39,355,309 Texas: 31,709,821 Florida: 23,462,518 New York: 20,002,427 Pennsylvania: 13,059,432 Illinois: 12,719,141 Ohio: 11,900,510 Georgia: 11,302,748 North Carolina: 11,197,968 Michigan: 10,127,884 New Jersey: 9,548,215 Virginia: 8,880,107 Washington: 8,001,020 Arizona: 7,623,818 Tennessee: 7,315,076 Massachusetts: 7,154,084 Indiana: 6,973,333 Missouri: 6,270,541 Maryland: 6,265,347 Colorado: 6,012,561 Wisconsin: 5,972,787 Minnesota: 5,830,405 South Carolina: 5,570,274 Alabama: 5,193,088 Louisiana: 4,618,189 Kentucky: 4,606,864 Oregon: 4,273,586 Oklahoma: 4,123,288 Connecticut: 3,688,496 Utah: 3,538,904 Nevada: 3,282,188 Iowa: 3,238,387 Arkansas: 3,114,791 Kansas: 2,977,220 Mississippi: 2,954,160 New Mexico: 2,125,498 Idaho: 2,029,733 Nebraska: 2,018,006 West Virginia: 1,766,147 Hawaii: 1,432,820 New Hampshire: 1,415,342 Maine: 1,414,874 Montana: 1,144,694 Rhode Island: 1,114,521 Delaware: 1,059,952 South Dakota: 935,094 North Dakota: 799,358 Alaska: 737,270 Vermont: 644,663 Wyoming: 588,753
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 4,612,527: 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.

Does the largest state also grow fastest?

These states’ ranks change the most between population and population growth. These comparisons identify different questions worth investigating; a rank gap does not measure a causal effect or a statistical difference between unlike units.

StatePopulationPopulation growth
California39,355,309 · #1-0.02% · #46
New York20,002,427 · #40.01% · #45
Delaware1,059,952 · #450.94% · #6

Inspect these states, definitions and pairwise differences.

Values over time

All population history comes from Vintage 2025, including its revisions to earlier years. Ranks are recalculated among the same 50 states for each year.

The state-by-state view

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Ranked among 50 states; District of Columbia and Puerto Rico shown for reference. Rank 1 = highest value.

Population · July 1, 2025 · People
RankState / jurisdictionValue90% margin of errorDifference from previous rank
1California39,355,309Not publishedNot a survey test
2Texas31,709,821Not publishedNot a survey test
3Florida23,462,518Not publishedNot a survey test
4New York20,002,427Not publishedNot a survey test
5Pennsylvania13,059,432Not publishedNot a survey test
6Illinois12,719,141Not publishedNot a survey test
7Ohio11,900,510Not publishedNot a survey test
8Georgia11,302,748Not publishedNot a survey test
9North Carolina11,197,968Not publishedNot a survey test
10Michigan10,127,884Not publishedNot a survey test
11New Jersey9,548,215Not publishedNot a survey test
12Virginia8,880,107Not publishedNot a survey test
13Washington8,001,020Not publishedNot a survey test
14Arizona7,623,818Not publishedNot a survey test
15Tennessee7,315,076Not publishedNot a survey test
16Massachusetts7,154,084Not publishedNot a survey test
17Indiana6,973,333Not publishedNot a survey test
18Missouri6,270,541Not publishedNot a survey test
19Maryland6,265,347Not publishedNot a survey test
20Colorado6,012,561Not publishedNot a survey test
21Wisconsin5,972,787Not publishedNot a survey test
22Minnesota5,830,405Not publishedNot a survey test
23South Carolina5,570,274Not publishedNot a survey test
24Alabama5,193,088Not publishedNot a survey test
25Louisiana4,618,189Not publishedNot a survey test
26Kentucky4,606,864Not publishedNot a survey test
27Oregon4,273,586Not publishedNot a survey test
28Oklahoma4,123,288Not publishedNot a survey test
29Connecticut3,688,496Not publishedNot a survey test
30Utah3,538,904Not publishedNot a survey test
31Nevada3,282,188Not publishedNot a survey test
32Iowa3,238,387Not publishedNot a survey test
33Arkansas3,114,791Not publishedNot a survey test
34Kansas2,977,220Not publishedNot a survey test
35Mississippi2,954,160Not publishedNot a survey test
36New Mexico2,125,498Not publishedNot a survey test
37Idaho2,029,733Not publishedNot a survey test
38Nebraska2,018,006Not publishedNot a survey test
39West Virginia1,766,147Not publishedNot a survey test
40Hawaii1,432,820Not publishedNot a survey test
41New Hampshire1,415,342Not publishedNot a survey test
42Maine1,414,874Not publishedNot a survey test
43Montana1,144,694Not publishedNot a survey test
44Rhode Island1,114,521Not publishedNot a survey test
45Delaware1,059,952Not publishedNot a survey test
46South Dakota935,094Not publishedNot a survey test
47North Dakota799,358Not publishedNot a survey test
48Alaska737,270Not publishedNot a survey test
49Vermont644,663Not publishedNot a survey test
50Wyoming588,753Not publishedNot a survey test
Ref.District of ColumbiaNot ranked among states693,645Not publishedReference jurisdiction
Ref.Puerto RicoNot ranked among states3,184,835Not publishedReference jurisdiction

50 states plus 2 reference rows.

What this ranking measures

Estimated resident population on July 1, 2025, from Census Vintage 2025.

Population estimates incorporate births, deaths, and migration; they are not a new census count. Each vintage revises the entire series.

The size of the gap

The difference between the highest and lowest state estimates is 38,766,556. The U.S. total is 341,784,857.

How much should you read into a rank?

The Census Bureau does not publish margins of error for population estimates. “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).

Keep exploring

Read the ranking methodology.

Explore the same states in a side-by-side comparison, or combine this measure with others in the custom ranking tool.

Source and method

Producer
U.S. Census Bureau
Product / file
Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 · NST-EST2025-ALLDATA
Period
July 1, 2025
Unit
People
Calculation
Published estimate; no transformation of the value. 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 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.

Download, cite, or embed

Download the default full table (CSV) or use the download above for the table’s current filter and order. Data dictionary and source metadata

Updates and corrections

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.

01

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July 2024–July 2025 · Census PEP

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July 2024–July 2025 · Census PEP

391.2K Texas · highest estimate

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