The Rational Moderate

States

The states, measure by measure

20 official measures for the 50 states and DC, from federal statistical agencies. Each has its source, its date and, where the source publishes one, its margin of error. Pick a measure to map and rank it, or a state for its profile. Rank 1 is always the highest value, whatever the measure.

Choose a measure

Resident population, July 1, 2025

Shown first because it is the plainest fact about a state. This measure on its own page.

Resident population, July 1, 2025, by state

Residents. Shaded in five groups of about ten states each. Rank 1 is the highest value.

Residents

United States: 341,784,857

Data table

All 50 states and DC, A to Z. The source publishes no margin of error for this measure.

StateJuly 1, 2025Rank (1 = highest)
Alabama5,193,08824
Alaska737,27048
Arizona7,623,81814
Arkansas3,114,79133
California39,355,3091
Colorado6,012,56120
Connecticut3,688,49629
Delaware1,059,95245
District of Columbia693,64549
Florida23,462,5183
Georgia11,302,7488
Hawaii1,432,82040
Idaho2,029,73337
Illinois12,719,1416
Indiana6,973,33317
Iowa3,238,38732
Kansas2,977,22034
Kentucky4,606,86426
Louisiana4,618,18925
Maine1,414,87442
Maryland6,265,34719
Massachusetts7,154,08416
Michigan10,127,88410
Minnesota5,830,40522
Mississippi2,954,16035
Missouri6,270,54118
Montana1,144,69443
Nebraska2,018,00638
Nevada3,282,18831
New Hampshire1,415,34241
New Jersey9,548,21511
New Mexico2,125,49836
New York20,002,4274
North Carolina11,197,9689
North Dakota799,35847
Ohio11,900,5107
Oklahoma4,123,28828
Oregon4,273,58627
Pennsylvania13,059,4325
Rhode Island1,114,52144
South Carolina5,570,27423
South Dakota935,09446
Tennessee7,315,07615
Texas31,709,8212
Utah3,538,90430
Vermont644,66350
Virginia8,880,10712
Washington8,001,02013
West Virginia1,766,14739
Wisconsin5,972,78721
Wyoming588,75351

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025. NST-EST2025-ALLDATA, POPESTIMATE2025 · retrieved Oct. 2, 2026 · 51 rows · as of July 1, 2025 · annual. File: NST-EST2025-ALLDATA, POPESTIMATE2025. Download CSV

Highest to lowest

The source publishes no margin of error for this measure, so the ranks carry no test of whether neighbors really differ. Small gaps between states may be within the estimate’s ordinary error and revisions.

RankStateValue
1California39,355,309
2Texas31,709,821
3Florida23,462,518
4New York20,002,427
5Pennsylvania13,059,432
6Illinois12,719,141
7Ohio11,900,510
8Georgia11,302,748
9North Carolina11,197,968
10Michigan10,127,884
11New Jersey9,548,215
12Virginia8,880,107
13Washington8,001,020
14Arizona7,623,818
15Tennessee7,315,076
16Massachusetts7,154,084
17Indiana6,973,333
18Missouri6,270,541
19Maryland6,265,347
20Colorado6,012,561
21Wisconsin5,972,787
22Minnesota5,830,405
23South Carolina5,570,274
24Alabama5,193,088
25Louisiana4,618,189
26Kentucky4,606,864
27Oregon4,273,586
28Oklahoma4,123,288
29Connecticut3,688,496
30Utah3,538,904
31Nevada3,282,188
32Iowa3,238,387
33Arkansas3,114,791
34Kansas2,977,220
35Mississippi2,954,160
36New Mexico2,125,498
37Idaho2,029,733
38Nebraska2,018,006
39West Virginia1,766,147
40Hawaii1,432,820
41New Hampshire1,415,342
42Maine1,414,874
43Montana1,144,694
44Rhode Island1,114,521
45Delaware1,059,952
46South Dakota935,094
47North Dakota799,358
48Alaska737,270
49District of Columbia693,645
50Vermont644,663
51Wyoming588,753
United States For reference, not ranked341,784,857

About this measure

Period
July 1, 2025
As of
, retrieved
Units
Persons
Uncertainty
None published (administrative and model-based estimates), so ranks carry no test.
Data
Download the CSV (all 50 states and DC, with the rank, the test and every input column)
  • Census estimates, not a count. Each new vintage revises every year back to 2020.

State profiles

Every measure for one state, beside the U.S. value, with its rank and margin of error.

What is not here, and why

Some familiar state comparisons are left out because the available data cannot support a fair ranking yet.

Federal spending by state
USAspending records Medicare payments where the contractors that process them are located, not where patients and providers are, which alone would misplace large sums between states.
Federal taxes collected by state
IRS collections follow filing and headquarters addresses, not where residents live, as the IRS notes in its own tables.
State government revenue and debt
The Census Bureau publishes fiscal year 2024 on data.census.gov, and the site has not added it yet. That survey covers the 50 state governments only, not DC, and states divide services with their local governments differently, so state-only totals partly measure that division. Combined state and local government finances are the better candidate to add later.
Crime rates
Reporting coverage changes by state and year across the FBI’s 2021 move to its incident-based reporting system (NIBRS): in 2021, the agencies reporting to it covered 65.7% of the U.S. population, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. A ranking would mix crime with reporting.
Party control and election results
Left out by an editorial decision for this section. Official results are published by the FEC and the Clerk of the House, and may be added later.
Composite scores that rank states overall
A single score needs weights, and weights are value choices; it would also hide each input’s uncertainty and date. The selector lets you weigh the measures yourself.
School test scores (NAEP)
Held back pending a decision on storing copies; NAEP’s data service says its results “are not intended to be stored in spreadsheets or databases.”
Puerto Rico
Several sources (BEA, NCHS, the CPS voting supplement, EIA) do not cover it, so it is left out for consistency.