States by Population

Five states have fewer than 1 million residents: Wyoming (590,784), Vermont (642,805), Alaska (738,003), North Dakota (805,329), and South Dakota (943,078). Delaware is next at 1.07 million.

The smallest states are tightly clustered at the bottom. Wyoming and Vermont are separated by only about 52,000 residents, while Alaska and North Dakota are separated by about 67,000.

A small population does not always mean population loss. Wyoming is up +2.4% since 2020, North Dakota is up +3.4%, and South Dakota is up +6.4%.

Idaho leads all states with +11.9% growth since the 2020 Census. South Carolina (+10.4%), Texas (+10.1%), Florida (+9.8%), and Utah (+9.3%) round out the top five.

Large states can post large percentage gains too. Texas ranks second by population and third for growth rate, while Florida ranks third by population and fourth for growth rate.

Several mid-sized states also grew quickly: North Carolina is up +8.7%, Delaware is up +8.1%, Arizona is up +7.5%, and Tennessee is up +6.8%.

Seven states have lost population since the 2020 Census: Hawaii (-1.7%), West Virginia (-1.6%), New York (-1.0%), Louisiana (-0.8%), Illinois (-0.6%), California (-0.5%), and Mississippi (-0.1%).

The declines include both very large and much smaller states. California and New York remain the two largest states in the country, while Hawaii and West Virginia rank 40th and 39th by population.

Mississippi is close to flat at -0.1%. Vermont is listed at 0.0%, the lowest-ranked state that is neither growing nor declining in the table.

Population is the basis for each state's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after every decennial census. The table shows why the largest states matter in that process: California, Texas, Florida, and New York together hold about one-third of the U.S. population.

The same ranking also shows why small states remain distinct in national politics. Wyoming has 590,784 residents, while California has 39.3 million — about 67 times as many people.

Growth since 2020 points to where future reapportionment pressure may build. Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Utah, North Carolina, Delaware, and Arizona all show gains above +7%.

Population rank is different from land-area rank. Alaska is near the bottom by population at #48, while Texas is one of the few states that ranks near the top by both population and land area. For the same data divided by square miles, see the U.S. states by population density ranking.

New Jersey shows the opposite pattern: it ranks #11 by population with 9.6 million residents, even though it is far smaller than western states such as Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.

California's 39.3 million residents give it the largest population total, but density tells a different story. On the density ranking, California sits below smaller northeastern states such as New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.