Guide Rankings Geography Updated June 3, 2026

Southeast States

Atlanta skyline viewed from Piedmont Park, showing the towers of Midtown Georgia against a blue sky with Centennial Olympic Park visible

Southeast States

Ranking - Geography

Atlanta is the largest city in the Southeast, with a metropolitan area of approximately 6.2 million residents. Georgia is the most populous core Southeast state at approximately 10.7 million residents.

Quick Answer

Southeast States

  1. 1

    Seven states form the universally recognized Southeast: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Florida, with approximately 21.5 million residents, is the most populous of the seven.

  2. 2

    Four states are sometimes included in the Southeast: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Virginia. Each has a significant reason for inclusion — cultural and geographic overlap with the core Southeast — and a reason for exclusion, such as stronger ties to the South Central, border-state, or Mid-Atlantic traditions.

  3. 3

    The Southeast has no Census definition — the Census Bureau classifies all 11 states (core and sometimes) within the broader South region. The 7-state core is widely recognized in geographic encyclopedias, tourism boards, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which includes institutions from all 7 core states.

Map

Southeast States Map

Southeast Status
No data
Florida (approximately 21.5 million residents) is the most populous core Southeast state. Georgia, with Atlanta (6.2 million metro), is the economic hub of the region. The 4 sometimes-included states — Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia — each have a portion that strongly matches Southeast culture and a portion that points elsewhere.
Southeast States Map
Rank State Southeast Status
1 Florida 3
2 Georgia 3
3 North Carolina 3
4 Tennessee 3
5 South Carolina 3
6 Alabama 3
7 Mississippi 3
8 Virginia 2
9 Louisiana 2
10 Kentucky 2
11 Arkansas 2

Florida (approximately 21.5 million residents) is the most populous core Southeast state. Georgia, with Atlanta (6.2 million metro), is the economic hub of the region. The 4 sometimes-included states — Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia — each have a portion that strongly matches Southeast culture and a portion that points elsewhere.

Southeast States Table

Status

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Print-ready table — Southeast States

What States Are in the Southeast?

Atlanta's Midtown skyline viewed from Piedmont Park, Georgia
Atlanta's metropolitan area of approximately 6.2 million makes it the largest city in the Southeast. Georgia (10.7 million residents) is the second most populous core Southeast state after Florida.

Seven states form the universally recognized Southeast: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These seven share the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, a warm humid subtropical climate, and the post-Civil War cotton and textile economy that defined the region through the 20th century. Florida leads in population at approximately 21.5 million; Georgia is second at approximately 10.7 million. Mississippi, the smallest core Southeast state by population at approximately 3 million, has the smallest economy.

Four states are sometimes included: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Virginia. Virginia (approximately 8.6 million) is the most populous sometimes-included state and is often considered a transition between the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic. Louisiana is culturally distinct from the core Southeast due to its French-Spanish heritage but is geographically contiguous. Kentucky and Arkansas are SEC member states, which many people use as a proxy for Southeast membership.

Southeast vs South: What Is the Difference?

Blue Ridge ridges stretching to the horizon in the Great Smoky Mountains at sunrise, on the Tennessee-North Carolina border
Great Smoky Mountains National Park spans the Tennessee-North Carolina border and is the most visited national park in the United States. Both Tennessee and North Carolina are among the 7 core Southeast states.

The South is a formal Census region of 16 states; the Southeast is an informal geographic term with no Census definition. The 7 core Southeast states are a subset of the Census South. States in the Census South that are not typically Southeast include Delaware (2,489 sq mi), Maryland (12,407 sq mi), Oklahoma (69,899 sq mi), Texas (268,596 sq mi), and West Virginia (24,230 sq mi). The Southeast focuses specifically on the Atlantic and Gulf South states east of the Mississippi-Louisiana line.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC), founded in 1932, is one of the most commonly cited institutional definitions of the Southeast. Its founding members included institutions from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt (Tennessee). Arkansas joined in 1991; Missouri in 2012; Texas and Oklahoma in 2024. The SEC's expanded membership shows how Southeast as an institutional category can shift over time.

Largest and Smallest Southeast States

Florida (65,758 sq mi) is the largest core Southeast state by area, followed by Georgia (59,425 sq mi) and North Carolina (53,819 sq mi). South Carolina (32,020 sq mi) is the smallest core Southeast state by area. By population, Florida (approximately 21.5 million) leads, followed by Georgia (approximately 10.7 million) and North Carolina (approximately 10.4 million). Mississippi (approximately 3 million) is the least populous core Southeast state.

Quick Answers

What states are in the Southeast?
Seven states form the universally recognized Southeast: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Four more — Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Virginia — are sometimes included. The Southeast has no Census definition; the Census places all these states in the broader South region.
How many states are in the Southeast?
The core Southeast consists of 7 states. With sometimes-included states, the total reaches 11. The Southeast has no fixed Census definition, so the number varies by source — the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has 16 member institutions spanning 11 states as of 2024.
Is Virginia in the Southeast?
Virginia is sometimes included in the Southeast. With approximately 8.6 million residents, it is the most populous sometimes-included state. Richmond served as the Confederate capital. However, Northern Virginia's proximity to Washington D.C. and its economic character lead many sources to group Virginia with the Mid-Atlantic.
Is Louisiana in the Southeast?
Louisiana is sometimes included in the Southeast. New Orleans is culturally connected to the Gulf South. However, Louisiana is a Census West South Central state and is sometimes grouped with Texas and Arkansas as South Central rather than Southeast. The SEC includes LSU (Baton Rouge) as a founding member.
What is the largest Southeast state?
Florida is the largest core Southeast state by both population (approximately 21.5 million) and area (65,758 sq mi). Georgia is the second-largest by both population (approximately 10.7 million) and area (59,425 sq mi).
What is the smallest Southeast state?
South Carolina is the smallest core Southeast state by area at 32,020 square miles. Mississippi is the least populous core Southeast state at approximately 3 million residents.

Methodology

Southeast classification reflects the geographic consensus across major reference sources and institutional usage. Core states appear in virtually every published definition of the Southeast. Sometimes-included states appear in some definitions but not others, typically because of overlapping regional identities. The score is 3 for universally recognized Southeast states, 2 for sometimes-included states.

Sources

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.
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