List of U.S. states and territories by population

The states and territories included in the United States Census Bureau's statistics for the United States population, ethnicity, and most other categories include the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Separate statistics are maintained for the five permanently inhabited territories of the United States: Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

As of April 1, 2010, the date of the 2010 United States Census, the nine most populous U.S. states contain slightly more than half of the total population. The 25 least populous states contain less than one-sixth of the total population. California, the most populous state, contains more people than the 21 least populous states combined, and Wyoming, the least populous state, has a population less than any of the 31 most populous U.S. cities.

Method

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

Electoral apportionment

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau is charged with making an actual count of all residents by state and territory. The accuracy of this count is then tested after the fact, and sometimes statistically significant undercounts or overcounts occur. For example, for the 2020 decennial census, 14 states had significant miscounts ranging from 1.5% to 6.6%. While these adjustments may be reflected in government programs over the following decade, the 10-year representative apportionments discussed below are not changed to reflect the miscount.

House of Representatives

Based on this decennial census, each state is allocated a portion of the 435 fixed seats in the United States House of Representatives (until the early 20th century, the apportionment process generally increased the size of the House based on the results of the census until the size of the House was capped by the Reapportionment Act of 1929), with each state guaranteed at least one Representative. The allocation is based on each state's proportion of the combined population of the fifty states (not including the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the United States Virgin Islands).

Electoral College

The Electoral College, every four years, elects the President and Vice President of the United States based on the popular vote in each state and the District of Columbia. Each state's number of votes in the Electoral College is equal to its number of members in the Senate plus members in the House of Representatives.

The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution additionally grants the District of Columbia (D.C.), which is not part of any state, as many Electoral College votes as it would have if it were a state, while having no more votes than the least populous state (currently, Wyoming). Since the U.S. Constitution guarantees every state at least one member of the U.S. House of Representatives and two members of the U.S. Senate, every state has at least three Electoral College votes. Thus, the Electoral College has 538 members (100 senators, plus 435 representatives due to the limit imposed by the Reapportionment Act of 1929, plus 3 members for the District of Columbia). Territories of the United States such as Puerto Rico are not included in the Electoral College: people in those territories cannot vote directly for the President of the United States, although they may participate in the partisan nominating primaries and caucuses.

State and territory rankings

* — non-voting member of the House of Representatives.

Summary of population by region

Column header abbreviations: # = Rank, Geo. = Geographic

See also

Explanatory notes

References

General

• "National Totals: Vintage 2015". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
• "2010 Census Tables". U. S. Census Bureau. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
• "Congressional Apportionment: 2010 Census Brief". U. S. Census Bureau. November 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
• "2009 Census estimates". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 7, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1995, U.S. Census Bureau, Section 29: Outlying Areas, Table No. 1347. Land Area and Population Characteristics, by [Outlying] Area: 1990 (page 828). Retrieved May 28, 2011

Specific

External links

• United States Government
  • United States Census Bureau
    • USCB population estimates
  • United States Office of Management and Budget

1. List of states and territories of the United States by population density
2. List of U.S. states and territories by historical population
3. List of U.S. states and territories by immigrant population
4. List of U.S. states and territories by area
5. List of U.S. states and territories by African-American population
6. List of largest cities of U.S. states and territories by population
7. List of U.S. states and territories by GDP
8. List of United States cities by population
9. List of U.S. states and territories by fertility rate
10. List of United States cities by population density
11. List of U.S. states and territories by poverty rate
12. List of U.S. states and territories by median age
13. List of U.S. states and territories by income
14. List of states and territories of the United States
15. List of U.S. states and territories by coastline
16. List of U.S. states and territories by life expectancy
17. Territories of the United States
18. List of countries and dependencies by population
19. List of U.S. states and territories by educational attainment
20. List of U.S. states and territories by violent crime rate