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Size of US States by Area

US States

The vastness of the US countryside. View of the Navajo Nation’s high desert plain in New Mexico as viewed from the foot of Shiprock mountain.

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From the largest to the smallest US states.

The third-largest nation on earth, the United States takes up little under 40% of the North American continent.

There are 50 states that make up the US territory; 48 of them are located in what is known as the “contiguous United States,” a peninsula-like region in the middle of North America; one, Alaska; and one, Hawaii, a tropical archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.

The United States is made up of the states, which are its fundamental political divisions.

Colonial charters had a key role in defining the 13 initial states’ borders, which changed frequently over the course of history. Congress set the boundaries of numerous more state territories. The size of the states west of the Mississippi was determined by relatively arbitrary straight lines that were drawn along the lines of longitude and latitude.

The size of US states can be compared to that of nation-states in the Old World. For instance, the third-largest US state of California is bigger than Germany but smaller than France; Texas is three times larger than the UK; and Massachusetts is smaller than Switzerland by two-thirds.

The 50 US States are listed below in order of size of area. United States states are listed from largest to smallest.
List of states and territories, ordered by total area in square miles and square kilometres (km2).

US State Flags:

Click on a state flag symbol to show a larger version of the flag and a flag description.

No. State km² sq mi Census Region Notes
30 Alabama State Flag Alabama 135,767 52,420 East South Central The “Heart of Dixie” is the largest state in East South Central region.
1 Alaska State Flag Alaska 1,723,336 665,384 Pacific The largest US state, Alaska, shares no borders with any other US state. The least densely populated US state, “The Last Frontier,” is about three times the size of France.
6 Arizona State Flag Arizona 295,233 113,990 Mountain Home to the Grand Canyon. Arizona is about three times the size of South Korea.
29 Arkansas State Flag Arkansas 137,730 53,178 West South Central By comparison, Arkansas is slightly larger than Greece.
3 California State Flag California 423,968 163,695 Pacific one of three states on the US mainland with a Pacific Ocean coastline, and the largest state in the Pacific region. California’s size dwarfs Austria by a factor of five.
8 Colorado State Flag Colorado 269,602 104,094 Mountain One of the two states with boundaries that appear to form a rectangle and are straight. Colorado is nearly the size of New Zealand.
48 Connecticut State Flag Connecticut 14,356 5,543 New England One of the six New England states, but nine times smaller than England.
49 Delaware State Flag Delaware 6,446 2,489 South Atlantic One of the original thirteen states.
22 Florida State Flag Florida 170,312 65,758 South Atlantic largest state in the United States’ South Atlantic area. Spain is around one-third the size of Florida.
24 Georgia State Flag Georgia 153,910 59,425 South Atlantic One of the original thirteen states.
43 Hawai'i State Flag Hawaii 28,313 10,932 Pacific The only US state located on an archipelago.
14 Idaho State Flag Idaho 216,443 83,569 Mountain By comparison, Idaho is slightly smaller than Great Britain (island).
25 Illinois State Flag Illinois 149,994 57,913 East North Central By comparison, Illinois is about half the size of Italy.
38 Indiana State Flag Indiana 94,327 36,420 East North Central Indiana is about the size of Hungary.
26 Iowa State Flag Iowa 145,744 56,272 West North Central By comparison, Iowa is about twice the size of Ireland.
15 Kansas State Flag Kansas 213,099 82,278 West North Central Only the northeast corner of Kansas is cut off by the Missouri River; the size of Kansas is determined by longitude and latitude.
37 Kentucky State Flag Kentucky 104,656 40,408 East South Central The Bluegrass State would fit nearly seven times into Texas and is roughly one-third the size of Poland.
31 Louisiana State Flag Louisiana 135,658 52,378 West South Central The Pelican State is somewhat larger than Greece, or about half the size of Colorado.
39 Maine State Flag Maine 91,634 35,380 New England Largest state in New England. About twice the size of Estonia.
42 Maryland State Flag Maryland 32,131 12,406 South Atlantic Maryland is slightly larger than Belgium, about 26% of its area is water.
44 Massachusetts State Flag Massachusetts 27,335 10,554 New England The most populated state in the New England region and a little bit smaller than Belgium is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
11 Michigan State Flag Michigan 250,485 96,713 East North Central Largest state in East North Central, but 40,175 sq mi (104,052 km²) are water area, 41.5% of the state is liquid.
12 Minnesota State Flag Minnesota 225,163 86,936 West North Central Largest state in West North Central, has a border with Canada.
32 Mississippi State Flag Mississippi 125,438 48,432 East South Central The Mississippi River, the second-longest river in the US, inspired the naming of Mississippi.
21 Missouri State Flag Missouri 180,540 69,707 West North Central The Missouri River, the nation’s longest river, inspired the naming of Missouri.
4 Montana State Flag Montana 380,832 147,040 Mountain The Mountain Region’s largest state is Montana. Japan is a little bigger than Montana.
16 Nebraska State Flag Nebraska 200,330 77,348 West North Central Nebraska, which is almost twice the area of Iceland, is located in the centre of the US to the west of the Missouri River.
7 Nevada State Flag Nevada 286,380 110,572 Mountain Nevada, the Battle Born State, is about three times the size of Portugal and would fit into Texas almost 2.5 times.
46 New Hampshire State Flag New Hampshire 24,214 9,349 New England The Granite State is slightly larger than one-third of Ireland and would fit into Texas 29 times.
47 New Jersey State Flag New Jersey 22,590 8,722 Middle Atlantic The US state with the highest density of people is New Jersey. In comparison, it is around the same size as Israel and has a similar population.
5 New Mexico State Flag New Mexico 314,917 121,590 Mountain The fifth-largest US state, New Mexico is roughly the size of Poland. At 2,194 m (7,198 ft) above sea level, Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, is the highest capital city in the country.
27 New York State Flag New York 141,297 54,555 Middle Atlantic in the Middle Atlantic region, the biggest state. The “Empire State” would fit within Texas nearly five times and is a little bigger than Greece.
28 North Carolina State Flag North Carolina 139,390 53,819 South Atlantic North Carolina is around five times the size of Texas and is roughly twice the size of Ireland.
19 North Dakota State Flag North Dakota 183,107 70,698 West North Central Although it is eight times larger than New Jersey, North Dakota is only slightly smaller than half the size of Germany.
34 Ohio State Flag Ohio 116,096 44,825 East North Central The Buckeye State is slightly larger than Cuba and would fit six times inside Texas.
20 Oklahoma State Flag Oklahoma 181,038 69,899 West South Central Oklahoma is the size of Cambodia, and it would fit almost four times in Texas.
9 Oregon State Flag Oregon 254,800 98,379 Pacific one of the three states with a Pacific Ocean coastline on the continent of America. Despite having only around 6% of the UK’s population, Oregon is only slightly larger than the UK.
33 Pennsylvania State Flag Pennsylvania 119,279 46,054 Middle Atlantic Pennsylvania, sometimes referred to as “The Keystone State,” is roughly equal to the size of the UK.
50 Rhode Island State Flag Rhode Island 3,999 1,544 New England Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state. It would fit more than 40 times in England.
40 South Carolina State Flag South Carolina 82,931 32,020 South Atlantic South Carolina is about as big as the United Arab Emirates.
17 South Dakota State Flag South Dakota 199,730 77,116 West North Central South Dakota is two-thirds the size of Italy.
36 Tennessee State Flag Tennessee 109,152 42,144 East South Central Tennessee is about the size of Cuba.
2 Texas State Flag Texas 695,660 268,596 West South Central The largest state on the U.S. mainland and the second largest in the United States.
13 Utah State Flag Utah 219,882 84,897 Mountain The Beehive State is about twice as big as Bulgaria.
45 Vermont State Flag Vermont 24,905 9,616 New England The state in the northeastern US is about half the size of Slovakia.
35 Virginia State Flag Virginia 110,787 42,775 South Atlantic Virginia is about the size of Bulgaria.
18 Washington State Flag Washington 184,661 71,298 Pacific Washington is one of thirteen states that share a border with Canada and one of three states on the US mainland that have a coastline on the Pacific Ocean.
41 West Virginia State Flag West Virginia 62,755 24,230 South Atlantic The only state wholly included within the Appalachian Mountains is The Mountain State. Scotland is a little smaller than West Virginia.
23 Wisconsin State Flag Wisconsin 169,634 65,496 East North Central The Badger State is about twice the size of Austria.
10 Wyoming State Flag Wyoming 253,334 97,813 Mountain The lines at 104 and 111 degrees west longitude and 41 and 45 degrees north latitude divide Wyoming, which is half the size of Spain. It is the second-least populated state in the US.

 

Country/
Territory
Area
(km²)
Area
(sq mi)
Territory Notes
Flag of the United States United States

Contiguous United States

9,833,516

8,081,868

3,796,742

3,120,428

North America The third-largest nation in the globe is the United States. Its size is more than twice as large as the European Union or almost half that of Russia. There are 50 states and one capital district in the federal republic (District of Columbia).
District of Columbia 177 68.34 South Atlantic Capital district of the United States, generally known as Washington D.C.

 

Territories of the United States
American Samoa Flag American Samoa 1,505 581 Polynesia American Samoa has a land area of 198 km² (76 sq mi)
Guam Flag Guam 1,476 570 Micronesia Guam has a land area of 543 km² (209 sq mi)
Northern Mariana Islands Flag Northern Mariana Islands 5,115 1,975 Micronesia Northern Mariana Islands have a land area of 472 km² (182 sq mi)
Puerto Rico Flag Puerto Rico 13,792 5,325 Caribbean Puerto Rico has a land area of 8,867 km² (3,424 sq mi)
US Virgin Islands Flag US Virgin Islands 1,898 733 Caribbean US Virgin Islands have a land area of 348 km² (134 sq mi)

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