US State Population Explorer

US State Population Rankings 2024

The United States Census Bureau tracks population across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories through annual estimates and decennial census counts. The 2022 estimates — the most recent full dataset available — show a total US population of approximately 331 million people distributed very unevenly across states. California alone accounts for nearly 12% of the national total, while the five most populous states (California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania) together represent roughly one third of all Americans.

Population data drives a huge range of decisions: congressional apportionment, federal funding allocations, infrastructure planning, and business market sizing. This tool lets you explore and sort all 50 states by population in a single view, making comparisons easy and immediate. The percentage-of-US column is especially useful for understanding relative scale — Wyoming's 0.18% share versus California's 11.8% share illustrates just how concentrated US population density is in a handful of coastal and Sun Belt states.

Most and Least Populous US States

California holds the top spot with approximately 39 million residents, a position it has held since overtaking New York in the 1960s. Texas is a distant second at ~30 million, with Florida close behind at ~23 million. The Sun Belt states — Florida, Texas, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina — have seen the fastest growth over the past two decades, driven by domestic migration, international immigration, and favorable economic conditions.

At the other end of the spectrum, Wyoming is the least populous state with roughly 581,000 residents, followed by Vermont (~647,000) and Alaska (~734,000). These states cover vast geographic areas but have sparse populations due to challenging climates, limited agricultural land, and limited economic diversification. Wyoming's entire population would fit inside many individual US cities with room to spare.

How US Population Is Distributed by Region

US population clusters strongly in four geographic regions. The South (including Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia) is the most populous region, representing roughly 38% of the national total. The Midwest is home to about 21% of Americans, concentrated in Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan. The West, led by California, accounts for about 24%, and the Northeast — despite containing highly dense urban areas like New York City and Boston — holds about 17% of the population.

Urban concentration amplifies these regional numbers. The New York–Newark metropolitan area alone holds around 20 million people, while the Los Angeles metro holds 13 million. The top 10 US metro areas together account for more than 25% of the national population, even though they occupy a tiny fraction of US land area. Understanding state-level data is therefore just one lens — metro-level analysis often tells a more complete economic story.

Migration patterns continue to shift these distributions. Sun Belt states like Florida, Texas, and Arizona have gained millions of residents from high-cost coastal states over the 2020s, while states like New York, California, and Illinois have seen net domestic outflows. These shifts directly affect congressional representation: the 2020 Census resulted in Texas gaining two House seats and California losing one for the first time in its history.

Population Data Sources — US Census Bureau

This tool uses population data from the US Census Bureau, accessed through the DataUSA.io API. DataUSA aggregates public government datasets — including American Community Survey (ACS) estimates, decennial census counts, and Bureau of Economic Analysis data — into a single queryable API. The 2022 vintage estimates used here represent the Census Bureau's best annual count between full decennial censuses, which occur every 10 years (most recently 2020, next in 2030).

The Census Bureau publishes these Population Estimates Program (PEP) figures each year using birth and death records, IRS administrative data, Medicare enrollment, and immigration statistics to estimate population change since the last census. These estimates are revised and superseded when new decennial census data is available. For the most authoritative data, visit census.gov. For programmatic access to the same datasets used here, the DataUSA API at datausa.io/api is free and requires no API key.

Last updated: March 2026 | Source: US Census Bureau via DataUSA.io (2022 estimates)