List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population

List of U.S. states and territories by population

List of U.S. states and territories by population

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The states and territories included in the United States Census Bureau's statistics for the United States population, ethnicity, and most other categories include the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Separate statistics are maintained for the five permanently inhabited territories of the United States: Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.[1]

Resident population of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in 2022 according to the U.S. Census Bureau[needs update]
Average annual population growth rate in each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico between 2020 and 2022 according to the U.S. Census Bureau[needs update]

As of April 1, 2010, the date of the 2010 United States Census, the nine most populous U.S. states contain slightly more than half of the total population. The 25 least populous states contain less than one-sixth of the total population. California, the most populous state, contains more people than the 21 least populous states combined, and Wyoming, the least populous state, has a population less than any of the 31 most populous U.S. cities.

Method

The United States Census counts the persons residing in the United States including citizens, non-citizen permanent residents and non-citizen long-term visitors.[2] Civilian and military federal employees serving abroad and their dependents are counted in their home state.[3]

Electoral apportionment

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau is charged with making an actual count of all residents by state and territory. The accuracy of this count is then tested after the fact, and sometimes statistically significant undercounts or overcounts occur. For example, for the 2020 decennial census, 14 states had significant miscounts ranging from 1.5% to 6.6%. While these adjustments may be reflected in government programs over the following decade, the 10-year representative apportionments discussed below are not changed to reflect the miscount.[4]

House of Representatives

Based on this decennial census, each state is allocated a portion of the 435 fixed seats in the United States House of Representatives (until the early 20th century, the apportionment process generally increased the size of the House based on the results of the census until the size of the House was capped by the Reapportionment Act of 1929), with each state guaranteed at least one Representative. The allocation is based on each state's proportion of the combined population of the fifty states (not including the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the United States Virgin Islands).

Electoral College

The Electoral College, every four years, elects the President and Vice President of the United States based on the popular vote in each state and the District of Columbia. Each state's number of votes in the Electoral College is equal to its number of members in the Senate plus members in the House of Representatives.[5]

The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution additionally grants the District of Columbia (D.C.), which is not part of any state, as many Electoral College votes as it would have if it were a state, while having no more votes than the least populous state (currently, Wyoming). Since the U.S. Constitution guarantees every state at least one member of the U.S. House of Representatives and two members of the U.S. Senate, every state has at least three Electoral College votes. Thus, the Electoral College has 538 members (100 senators, plus 435 representatives due to the limit imposed by the Reapportionment Act of 1929, plus 3 members for the District of Columbia).[5] Territories of the United States such as Puerto Rico are not included in the Electoral College: people in those territories cannot vote directly for the President of the United States,[6] although they may participate in the partisan nominating primaries and caucuses.[7]

State and territory rankings

More information State or territory, Census population ...

*non-voting member of the House of Representatives.

  1. Resident population only; does not include overseas population. In 2022, the Census Bureau announced the following undercounts (missed residents) in the 2020 census: Arkansas (−5.04%), Florida (−3.48%), Illinois (−1.97%), Mississippi (−4.11%), Tennessee (−4.78%) and Texas (−1.92%). These were the overcounts: Delaware (+5.45%), Hawaii (+6.79%), Massachusetts (+2.24%), Minnesota (+3.84%), New York (+3.44%), Ohio (+1.49%), Rhode Island (+5.05%) and Utah (+2.59%).[9]
  2. Effective from 2022 onward.
  3. Effective from the 2022 elections onward. Each state has a number of votes in the Electoral College equal to its number of senators (two) and representatives in the Congress, while D.C. is granted three electoral votes. The Electoral College is used to elect the President and Vice President of the United States.

Summary of population by region

More information Legend ...

Column header abbreviations: # = Rank, Geo. = Geographic

More information State/federal district/territory/ division/region, # ...

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. Not enumerated in 2020.
  2. Not enumerated in 2010.

References

General
  • "National Totals: Vintage 2015". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  • "2010 Census Tables". U. S. Census Bureau. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  • "Congressional Apportionment: 2010 Census Brief". U. S. Census Bureau. November 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  • "2009 Census estimates". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 7, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  • Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1995, U.S. Census Bureau, Section 29: Outlying Areas, Table No. 1347. Land Area and Population Characteristics, by [Outlying] Area: 1990 (page 828). Retrieved May 28, 2011
Specific
  1. Geographic Terms and Concepts - Island Areas of the United States, U.S. Census Bureau, archived from the original on December 10, 2016, retrieved March 19, 2019
  2. Wang, Hansi Lo (May 19, 2022). "These 14 states had significant miscounts in the 2020 census". NPR. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  3. Office of the Federal Register. "A Procedural Guide to the Electoral College". National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  4. Shah, Dayna K.; Reich, Mary W. (November 1997). U.S. Insular Areas: Application of the U.S. Constitution (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: U.S. General Accounting Office. GAO/OGC-98-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 29, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  5. Curry, Tom (May 28, 2008). "Nominating, but not voting for president". NBC News. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  6. "US Census Quickfacts, Population Estimates, July 2023" (PDF). Census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  7. "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: United States". www.census.gov. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2019.

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