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 mi² | 5,024,294 | December 14, 1819 |
 Alaska (AK) |
Juneau | 665,380 mi² | 733,374 | January 3, 1959 |
 Arizona (AZ) |
Phoenix | 113,998 mi² | 7,157,902 | February 14, 1912 |
 Arkansas (AR) |
Little Rock | 53,178 mi² | 3,011,490 | June 15, 1836 |
 California (CA) |
Sacramento | 163,695 mi² | 39,538,212 | September 9, 1850 |
 Colorado (CO) |
Denver | 104,184 mi² | 5,773,707 | August 1, 1876 |
 Connecticut (CT) |
Hartford | 5,543 mi² | 3,605,912 | January 9, 1788 |
 Delaware (DE) |
Dover | 2,490 mi² | 989,946 | December 7, 1787 |
 Florida (FL) |
Tallahassee | 65,757 mi² | 21,538,216 | March 3, 1845 |
 Georgia (GA) |
Atlanta | 59,424 mi² | 10,713,771 | January 2, 1788 |
 Hawaii (HI) |
Honolulu | 10,931 mi² | 1,455,274 | August 21, 1959 |
 Idaho (ID) |
Boise | 83,745 mi² | 1,839,117 | July 3, 1890 |
 Illinois (IL) |
Springfield | 57,914 mi² | 12,813,469 | December 3, 1818 |
 Indiana (IN) |
Indianapolis | 36,417 mi² | 6,785,442 | December 11, 1816 |
 Iowa (IA) |
Des Moines | 56,273 mi² | 3,190,427 | December 28, 1846 |
 Kansas (KS) |
Topeka | 82,278 mi² | 2,937,835 | January 29, 1861 |
 Kentucky (KY) |
Frankfort | 40,408 mi² | 4,506,297 | June 1, 1792 |
 Louisiana (LA) |
Baton Rouge | 52,271 mi² | 4,657,785 | April 30, 1812 |
 Maine (ME) |
Augusta | 35,385 mi² | 1,363,177 | March 15, 1820 |
 Maryland (MD) |
Annapolis | 12,407 mi² | 6,177,253 | April 28, 1788 |
 Massachusetts (MA) |
Boston | 10,565 mi² | 7,032,933 | February 6, 1788 |
 Michigan (MI) |
Lansing | 96,715 mi² | 10,077,674 | January 26, 1837 |
 Minnesota (MN) |
St. Paul | 86,935 mi² | 5,706,804 | May 11, 1858 |
 Mississippi (MS) |
Jackson | 48,434 mi² | 2,961,306 | December 10, 1817 |
 Missouri (MO) |
Jefferson City | 69,714 mi² | 6,154,889 | August 10, 1821 |
 Montana (MT) |
Helena | 147,027 mi² | 1,084,244 | November 8, 1889 |
 Nebraska (NE) |
Lincoln | 77,357 mi² | 1,961,965 | March 1, 1867 |
 Nevada (NV) |
Carson City | 110,572 mi² | 3,104,617 | October 31, 1864 |
 New Hampshire (NH) |
Concord | 9,350 mi² | 1,377,524 | June 21, 1788 |
 New Jersey (NJ) |
Trenton | 8,722 mi² | 9,289,039 | December 18, 1787 |
 New Mexico (NM) |
Santa Fe | 121,589 mi² | 2,117,525 | January 6, 1912 |
 New York (NY) |
Albany | 54,555 mi² | 20,202,320 | July 26, 1788 |
 North Carolina (NC) |
Raleigh | 53,819 mi² | 10,439,459 | November 21, 1789 |
 North Dakota (ND) |
Bismarck | 70,705 mi² | 779,079 | November 2, 1889 |
 Ohio (OH) |
Columbus | 44,825 mi² | 11,799,331 | March 1, 1803 |
 Oklahoma (OK) |
Oklahoma City | 69,899 mi² | 3,959,411 | November 16, 1907 |
 Oregon (OR) |
Salem | 98,381 mi² | 4,237,279 | February 14, 1859 |
 Pennsylvania (PA) |
Harrisburg | 46,055 mi² | 13,002,788 | December 12, 1787 |
 Rhode Island (RI) |
Providence | 1,545 mi² | 1,097,371 | May 29, 1790 |
 South Carolina (SC) |
Columbia | 32,020 mi² | 5,118,422 | May 23, 1788 |
 South Dakota (SD) |
Pierre | 77,115 mi² | 886,668 | November 2, 1889 |
 Tennessee (TN) |
Nashville | 42,181 mi² | 6,910,786 | June 1, 1796 |
 Texas (TX) |
Austin | 268,595 mi² | 29,145,459 | December 29, 1845 |
 Utah (UT) |
Salt Lake City | 84,898 mi² | 3,271,614 | January 4, 1896 |
 Vermont (VT) |
Montpelier | 9,623 mi² | 643,077 | March 4, 1791 |
 Virginia (VA) |
Richmond | 42,774 mi² | 8,631,373 | June 25, 1788 |
 Washington (WA) |
Olympia | 71,362 mi² | 7,705,267 | November 11, 1889 |
 West Virginia (WV) |
Charleston | 24,230 mi² | 1,793,713 | June 20, 1863 |
 Wisconsin (WI) |
Madison | 65,498 mi² | 5,893,713 | May 29, 1848 |
 Wyoming (WY) |
Cheyenne | 97,818 mi² | 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.
