List of U.S. states and territories by population

This is a list of U.S. states by population (with inhabited non-state jurisdictions included for comparison) as of April 1, 2010, the date of the 2010 United States Census. The nine most populous states contain slightly more than half of the total population. The 25 least populous states contain less than one-sixth of the total population.

Methodology

The United States Census counts most persons residing in the United States including citizens, non-citizen permanent residents, non-citizen long-term visitors.[1] Civilian and military federal employees serving abroad and their dependents are counted in their home state.[2]

Electoral apportionment

Based on data from the decennial census, each state is allocated a proportion of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, although each state is guaranteed a minimum of one seat, regardless of population. This apportionment is based on the proportion of each state's population to that of the Fifty States together (without regard to the populations of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or other U.S. dependencies not yet admitted to statehood). The Electoral College is the body that, every four years, elects the president and vice president of the United States. Each state's representation in the Electoral College is equal to that state's total number of members in both houses of the United States Congress. The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution grants the District of Columbia, which is separate from any state, three votes. More precisely, it gets as many votes in the Electoral College as it would have if it were a state, but no more votes than the state with the fewest votes, which is currently three (e.g. Wyoming). Thus, the total representation in the College is 538 members (equal to 100 senators plus 435 representatives, plus 3 members for the District of Columbia).[3] The 11 most populous states, representing 56% of the population, have a majority of the Electoral College votes, enough to elect the president.

States and territories

Rank in
theFifty
States,
2010
 Rank in all
states
& terri-
tories,
2010
 State or territory
 Census population,
April 1, 2010 		Census population,
April 1, 2000
 Seats in
U.S. House,
2003–2013
 Presi-
dential
Electors
2004–
2008
 2010 Census Pop.
per
House
seat[4]
2000 Census Pop.
per
House
seat
 2000 Census Pop.
per
Pres. Elector
 Percent
of total
U.S. pop.,
2010[5]
 California 37,253,956 33,871,648 702,905 639,088 615,848 11.91%
 Texas 25,145,561 20,851,820 785,799 651,619 613,289 8.04%
 New York 19,378,102 18,976,457 668,210 654,361 612,144 6.19%
 Florida 18,801,310 15,982,378 752,052 639,295 591,940 6.01%
 Illinois 12,830,632 12,419,293 675,296 653,647 591,395 4.10%
 Pennsylvania 12,702,379 12,281,054 668,546 646,371 584,812 4.06%
 Ohio 11,536,504 11,353,140 640,917 630,730 567,657 3.69%
 Michigan 9,883,640 9,938,444 658,909 662,563 584,614 3.16%
 Georgia 9,687,653 8,186,453 745,204 629,727 545,764 3.10%
 North Carolina 9,535,483 8,049,313 733,499 619,178 536,621 3.05%
 New Jersey 8,791,894 8,414,350 676,300 647,258 560,957 2.81%
 Virginia 8,001,024 7,078,515 727,366 643,501 544,501 2.56%
 Washington 6,724,540 5,894,121 747,171 654,902 535,829 2.15%
 Massachusetts 6,547,629 6,349,097 654,763 634,910 529,091 2.04%
 Indiana 6,483,802 6,080,485 720,422 675,609 552,771 2.07%
 Arizona 6,392,017 5,130,632 799,002 641,329 513,063 2.04%
 Tennessee 6,346,105 5,689,283 705,123 632,143 517,208 2.03%
 Missouri 5,988,927 5,595,211 665,436 621,690 508,656 1.91%
 Maryland 5,773,552 5,296,486 721,694 662,061 529,649 1.85%
 Wisconsin 5,686,986 5,363,675 710,873 670,459 536,368 1.82%
 Minnesota 5,303,925 4,919,479 662,991 614,935 491,948 1.70%
 Colorado 5,029,196 4,301,261 720,704 614,466 477,918 1.61%
 Alabama 4,779,736 4,447,100 682,819 635,300 494,122 1.53%
 South Carolina 4,625,364 4,012,012 770,894 668,669 501,502 1.48%
 Louisiana 4,533,372 4,468,976 647,625 638,425 496,553 1.45%
 Kentucky 4,339,367 4,041,769 723,228 673,628 505,221 1.39%
 Oregon 3,831,074 3,421,399 766,215 684,280 488,771 1.22%
 Oklahoma 3,751,351 3,450,654 750,270 690,131 492,951 1.20%
†  Puerto Rico 3,725,789 3,808,610 [6] † † † 1.19%
 Connecticut 3,574,097 3,405,565 714,819 681,113 486,509 1.14%
 Iowa 3,046,355 2,926,324 609,271 585,265 418,046 0.97%
 Mississippi 2,967,297 2,844,658 741,824 711,165 474,110 0.95%
 Arkansas 2,915,918 2,673,400 728,980 668,350 445,567 0.93%
 Kansas 2,853,118 2,688,418 713,280 672,105 448,070 0.91%
 Utah 2,763,885 2,233,169 921,295 744,390 446,634 0.88%
 Nevada 2,700,551 1,998,257 900,184 666,086 399,651 0.86%
 New Mexico 2,059,179 1,819,046 686,393 606,349 363,809 0.66%
 West Virginia 1,852,994 1,808,344 617,665 602,781 361,669 0.59%
 Nebraska 1,826,341 1,711,263 608,780 570,421 342,253 0.58%
 Idaho 1,567,582 1,293,953 783,791 646,977 323,488 0.51%
 Hawaii 1,360,301 1,211,537 680,151 605,769 302,884 0.43%
 Maine 1,328,361 1,274,923 664,181 637,462 318,731 0.42%
 New Hampshire 1,316,470 1,235,786 658,235 617,893 308,947 0.42%
 Rhode Island 1,052,567 1,048,319 526,284 524,160 262,080 0.34%
 Montana 989,415 902,195 989,415 902,195 300,732 0.32%
 Delaware 900,877 783,600 897,934 783,600 261,200 0.29%
 South Dakota 814,180 754,844 814,180 754,844 251,615 0.26%
 Alaska 710,231 626,932 710,231 626,932 208,977 0.23%
 North Dakota 672,591 642,200 672,591 642,200 214,067 0.21%
 Vermont 625,741 608,827 625,741 608,827 202,942 0.20%
†  Washington, D.C. 601,723 572,059 [7] † † 190,686 0.19%
 Wyoming 563,626 493,782 563,626 493,782 164,594 0.18%
†  Guam 178,430 154,805 [7] † † † 0.06%
†  U.S. Virgin Islands 109,825 108,612 [7] † † † 0.04%
†  Northern Mariana Is. 88,662 69,221 [7] † † † 0.03%
†  American Samoa 65,628 57,291 [7] † † † 0.02%
† † The Fifty States 308,143,815 280,849,847 435 535 709,760 645,632 524,953 98.48%
† † 50 States + D.C. 308,745,538 281,421,906 435 538 † † 523,089 98.67%
† † Total U.S. territory 312,913,872 285,620,445 435 538 † † † 100.00%

† not applicable

 Wake Island has fewer than 300 occupants, mainly related to activities of the United States Air Force, none of whom is considered a permanent resident.[8][9] All other insular areas under the sovereignty of the United States are uninhabited.