USA consists of 50 states, the federal district of the District of Columbia with Washington D.C., and other territories with their own self-government. The contiguous United States consists of 48 states, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. The characteristics of the U.S. states, their capitals, abbreviations, and population are listed below.
List of U.S. States
| State (Abbreviation) | Capital | Area | Population | Entry into the Union |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alabama (AL) |
Montgomery | 52,420 sqmi | 5,024,294 | December 14, 1819 |
 Alaska (AK) |
Juneau | 665,381 sqmi | 733,374 | January 3, 1959 |
 Arizona (AZ) |
Phoenix | 113,998 sqmi | 7,157,902 | February 14, 1912 |
 Arkansas (AR) |
Little Rock | 53,178 sqmi | 3,011,490 | June 15, 1836 |
 California (CA) |
Sacramento | 163,695 sqmi | 39,538,212 | September 9, 1850 |
 Colorado (CO) |
Denver | 104,184 sqmi | 5,773,707 | August 1, 1876 |
 Connecticut (CT) |
Hartford | 5,543 sqmi | 3,605,912 | January 9, 1788 |
 Delaware (DE) |
Dover | 2,490 sqmi | 989,946 | December 7, 1787 |
 Florida (FL) |
Tallahassee | 65,758 sqmi | 21,538,216 | March 3, 1845 |
 Georgia (GA) |
Atlanta | 59,424 sqmi | 10,713,771 | January 2, 1788 |
 Hawaii (HI) |
Honolulu | 10,931 sqmi | 1,455,274 | August 21, 1959 |
 Idaho (ID) |
Boise | 83,745 sqmi | 1,839,117 | July 3, 1890 |
 Illinois (IL) |
Springfield | 57,914 sqmi | 12,813,469 | December 3, 1818 |
 Indiana (IN) |
Indianapolis | 36,417 sqmi | 6,785,442 | December 11, 1816 |
 Iowa (IA) |
Des Moines | 56,273 sqmi | 3,190,427 | December 28, 1846 |
 Kansas (KS) |
Topeka | 82,278 sqmi | 2,937,835 | January 29, 1861 |
 Kentucky (KY) |
Frankfort | 40,408 sqmi | 4,506,297 | June 1, 1792 |
 Louisiana (LA) |
Baton Rouge | 52,271 sqmi | 4,657,785 | April 30, 1812 |
 Maine (ME) |
Augusta | 35,385 sqmi | 1,363,177 | March 15, 1820 |
 Maryland (MD) |
Annapolis | 12,407 sqmi | 6,177,253 | April 28, 1788 |
 Massachusetts (MA) |
Boston | 10,565 sqmi | 7,032,933 | February 6, 1788 |
 Michigan (MI) |
Lansing | 96,715 sqmi | 10,077,674 | January 26, 1837 |
 Minnesota (MN) |
St. Paul | 86,936 sqmi | 5,706,804 | May 11, 1858 |
 Mississippi (MS) |
Jackson | 48,434 sqmi | 2,961,306 | December 10, 1817 |
 Missouri (MO) |
Jefferson City | 69,714 sqmi | 6,154,889 | August 10, 1821 |
 Montana (MT) |
Helena | 147,027 sqmi | 1,084,244 | November 8, 1889 |
 Nebraska (NE) |
Lincoln | 77,358 sqmi | 1,961,965 | March 1, 1867 |
 Nevada (NV) |
Carson City | 110,572 sqmi | 3,104,617 | October 31, 1864 |
 New Hampshire (NH) |
Concord | 9,350 sqmi | 1,377,524 | June 21, 1788 |
 New Jersey (NJ) |
Trenton | 8,722 sqmi | 9,289,039 | December 18, 1787 |
 New Mexico (NM) |
Santa Fe | 121,589 sqmi | 2,117,525 | January 6, 1912 |
 New York (NY) |
Albany | 54,555 sqmi | 20,202,320 | July 26, 1788 |
 North Carolina (NC) |
Raleigh | 53,819 sqmi | 10,439,459 | November 21, 1789 |
 North Dakota (ND) |
Bismarck | 70,705 sqmi | 779,079 | November 2, 1889 |
 Ohio (OH) |
Columbus | 44,825 sqmi | 11,799,331 | March 1, 1803 |
 Oklahoma (OK) |
Oklahoma City | 69,899 sqmi | 3,959,411 | November 16, 1907 |
 Oregon (OR) |
Salem | 98,381 sqmi | 4,237,279 | February 14, 1859 |
 Pennsylvania (PA) |
Harrisburg | 46,055 sqmi | 13,002,788 | December 12, 1787 |
 Rhode Island (RI) |
Providence | 1,545 sqmi | 1,097,371 | May 29, 1790 |
 South Carolina (SC) |
Columbia | 32,020 sqmi | 5,118,422 | May 23, 1788 |
 South Dakota (SD) |
Pierre | 77,115 sqmi | 886,668 | November 2, 1889 |
 Tennessee (TN) |
Nashville | 42,181 sqmi | 6,910,786 | June 1, 1796 |
 Texas (TX) |
Austin | 268,595 sqmi | 29,145,459 | December 29, 1845 |
 Utah (UT) |
Salt Lake City | 84,898 sqmi | 3,271,614 | January 4, 1896 |
 Vermont (VT) |
Montpelier | 9,623 sqmi | 643,077 | March 4, 1791 |
 Virginia (VA) |
Richmond | 42,775 sqmi | 8,631,373 | June 25, 1788 |
 Washington (WA) |
Olympia | 71,362 sqmi | 7,705,267 | November 11, 1889 |
 West Virginia (WV) |
Charleston | 24,230 sqmi | 1,793,713 | June 20, 1863 |
 Wisconsin (WI) |
Madison | 65,498 sqmi | 5,893,713 | May 29, 1848 |
 Wyoming (WY) |
Cheyenne | 97,818 sqmi | 576,850 | July 10, 1890 |
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U.S. States by Size
The Largest U.S. State by size is Alaska, followed by Texas, California, Montana, and New Mexico. Alaska is nearly 2.5 times larger than Texas and 430 times larger than Rhode Island.
The Smallest U.S. State is Rhode Island. The second smallest is Delaware, followed by Connecticut, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.
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U.S. States by Population
The Most Populous U.S. State is California, with 38,965,193 residents. Texas has 30,503,301 people, Florida ranks third with 22,610,726 residents, New York has 19,571,216 people, and Pennsylvania has 12,961,683 residents.
The Least Populous U.S. State is Wyoming with 584,057 residents. Vermont has the second fewest residents, followed by North Dakota, Alaska, and South Dakota.
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U.S. States by GDP per Capita
The Wealthiest U.S. State is New York, followed by Massachusetts, Washington, California, and Connecticut. The wealthiest is the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.), where the GDP per capita is 2.2 times higher than in the state of New York.
The Poorest U.S. State is Mississippi, where the GDP is five times lower than in Washington D.C. It is followed by Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Idaho.
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U.S. States Where the Death Penalty is Legal
The death penalty is applied in 27 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, South Dakota, South Carolina, California, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Governors in certain states have declared a moratorium on the death penalty in California (since 2019), Oregon (since 2011), and Pennsylvania (since 2015).
In contrast, the death penalty is banned in 23 states: Alaska (1957), Colorado (2020), Connecticut (2012), Delaware (2016), Hawaii (1957), Illinois (2011), Iowa (1965), Maine (1887), Maryland (2013), Massachusetts (1984), Michigan (1847), Minnesota (1911), New Hampshire (2019), New Jersey (2007), New York (2007), New Mexico (2009), Rhode Island (1984), North Dakota (1973), Vermont (1972), Virginia (2021), Washington (2018), Wisconsin (1853), West Virginia (1965), and in the District of Columbia.
