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