The USA consists of 50 states, the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.), and other territories with their own self-government. The contiguous United States consists of 48 states, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Characteristics of the U.S. states, capitals, abbreviations, and population are listed below.
List of US states
| State (abbreviation) | Capital | Area (km2) | Population | Accession to 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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US States by Size
The largest US state by area 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 US state is Rhode Island. The second smallest is Delaware, third Connecticut, fourth New Jersey and fifth New Hampshire.
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US States by Population
The most populous US state is California, with 38,965,193 residents. Texas is second with 30,503,301 people, Florida third with 22,610,726, New York fourth with 19,571,216 and Pennsylvania fifth with 12,961,683.
The least populous US state is Wyoming, with 584,057 residents. Vermont has the second lowest population, followed by North Dakota, Alaska and South Dakota.
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US States by GDP per Capita
The richest US state is New York followed by Massachusetts, Washington, California and Connecticut. The wealthiest state is the District of Columbia (i.e., Washington, D.C.), where the GDP per capita is 2.2 times higher than that of New York State.
The poorest U.S. state is Mississippi, where the GDP per capita is five times lower than that of Washington, D.C. It is followed by Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina and Idaho.
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US States Where the Death Penalty Is Legal
Twenty-seven states in the U.S. permit the death penalty: 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.
State governors have declared moratoriums 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), plus the District of Columbia.
