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 | 135,767 km² | 5,024,294 | December 14, 1819 |
 Alaska (AK) |
Juneau | 1,723,337 km² | 733,374 | January 3, 1959 |
 Arizona (AZ) |
Phoenix | 295,254 km² | 7,157,902 | February 14, 1912 |
 Arkansas (AR) |
Little Rock | 137,732 km² | 3,011,490 | June 15, 1836 |
 California (CA) |
Sacramento | 423,970 km² | 39,538,212 | September 9, 1850 |
 Colorado (CO) |
Denver | 269,837 km² | 5,773,707 | August 1, 1876 |
 Connecticut (CT) |
Hartford | 14,357 km² | 3,605,912 | January 9, 1788 |
 Delaware (DE) |
Dover | 6,450 km² | 989,946 | December 7, 1787 |
 Florida (FL) |
Tallahassee | 170,312 km² | 21,538,216 | March 3, 1845 |
 Georgia (GA) |
Atlanta | 153,909 km² | 10,713,771 | January 2, 1788 |
 Hawaii (HI) |
Honolulu | 28,311 km² | 1,455,274 | August 21, 1959 |
 Idaho (ID) |
Boise | 216,900 km² | 1,839,117 | July 3, 1890 |
 Illinois (IL) |
Springfield | 149,997 km² | 12,813,469 | December 3, 1818 |
 Indiana (IN) |
Indianapolis | 94,321 km² | 6,785,442 | December 11, 1816 |
 Iowa (IA) |
Des Moines | 145,746 km² | 3,190,427 | December 28, 1846 |
 Kansas (KS) |
Topeka | 213,100 km² | 2,937,835 | January 29, 1861 |
 Kentucky (KY) |
Frankfort | 104,656 km² | 4,506,297 | June 1, 1792 |
 Louisiana (LA) |
Baton Rouge | 135,382 km² | 4,657,785 | April 30, 1812 |
 Maine (ME) |
Augusta | 91,646 km² | 1,363,177 | March 15, 1820 |
 Maryland (MD) |
Annapolis | 32,133 km² | 6,177,253 | April 28, 1788 |
 Massachusetts (MA) |
Boston | 27,363 km² | 7,032,933 | February 6, 1788 |
 Michigan (MI) |
Lansing | 250,493 km² | 10,077,674 | January 26, 1837 |
 Minnesota (MN) |
St. Paul | 225,163 km² | 5,706,804 | May 11, 1858 |
 Mississippi (MS) |
Jackson | 125,443 km² | 2,961,306 | December 10, 1817 |
 Missouri (MO) |
Jefferson City | 180,560 km² | 6,154,889 | August 10, 1821 |
 Montana (MT) |
Helena | 380,800 km² | 1,084,244 | November 8, 1889 |
 Nebraska (NE) |
Lincoln | 200,356 km² | 1,961,965 | March 1, 1867 |
 Nevada (NV) |
Carson City | 286,382 km² | 3,104,617 | October 31, 1864 |
 New Hampshire (NH) |
Concord | 24,216 km² | 1,377,524 | June 21, 1788 |
 New Jersey (NJ) |
Trenton | 22,591 km² | 9,289,039 | December 18, 1787 |
 New Mexico (NM) |
Santa Fe | 314,915 km² | 2,117,525 | January 6, 1912 |
 New York (NY) |
Albany | 141,298 km² | 20,202,320 | July 26, 1788 |
 North Carolina (NC) |
Raleigh | 139,391 km² | 10,439,459 | November 21, 1789 |
 North Dakota (ND) |
Bismarck | 183,125 km² | 779,079 | November 2, 1889 |
 Ohio (OH) |
Columbus | 116,096 km² | 11,799,331 | March 1, 1803 |
 Oklahoma (OK) |
Oklahoma City | 181,038 km² | 3,959,411 | November 16, 1907 |
 Oregon (OR) |
Salem | 254,806 km² | 4,237,279 | February 14, 1859 |
 Pennsylvania (PA) |
Harrisburg | 119,283 km² | 13,002,788 | December 12, 1787 |
 Rhode Island (RI) |
Providence | 4,001 km² | 1,097,371 | May 29, 1790 |
 South Carolina (SC) |
Columbia | 82,933 km² | 5,118,422 | May 23, 1788 |
 South Dakota (SD) |
Pierre | 199,729 km² | 886,668 | November 2, 1889 |
 Tennessee (TN) |
Nashville | 109,248 km² | 6,910,786 | June 1, 1796 |
 Texas (TX) |
Austin | 695,662 km² | 29,145,459 | December 29, 1845 |
 Utah (UT) |
Salt Lake City | 219,887 km² | 3,271,614 | January 4, 1896 |
 Vermont (VT) |
Montpelier | 24,923 km² | 643,077 | March 4, 1791 |
 Virginia (VA) |
Richmond | 110,786 km² | 8,631,373 | June 25, 1788 |
 Washington (WA) |
Olympia | 184,827 km² | 7,705,267 | November 11, 1889 |
 West Virginia (WV) |
Charleston | 62,755 km² | 1,793,713 | June 20, 1863 |
 Wisconsin (WI) |
Madison | 169,640 km² | 5,893,713 | May 29, 1848 |
 Wyoming (WY) |
Cheyenne | 253,348 km² | 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.
