State ranking

How central is each state capital?

The share of each state's place population living in places within 100 miles of the capital.

Short answer

In Connecticut, 100.0% of residents of Census places live within 100 miles of the capital. In Florida, only 3.5% do.
#1 Connecticut
100.0%
  1. 01Connecticut100.0%
  2. 02District of Columbia100.0%
  3. 03Delaware100.0%
  4. 04Hawaii100.0%
  5. 05New Hampshire100.0%
  6. 06New Jersey100.0%
  7. 07Rhode Island100.0%
  8. 08Vermont100.0%
  9. 09Massachusetts98.6%
  10. 10Maryland97.9%
  11. 11Maine94.8%
  12. 12Michigan93.2%
  13. 13Utah89.7%
  14. 14Colorado89.6%
  15. 15Minnesota88.1%
  16. 16Nebraska85.6%
  17. 17Virginia81.2%
  18. 18Arizona80.8%
  19. 19Kentucky80.8%
  20. 20Oklahoma79.6%
  21. 21Oregon79.6%
  22. 22Wisconsin77.2%
  23. 23Georgia76.6%
  24. 24Washington74.1%
  25. 25Louisiana71.1%
  26. 26South Carolina69.6%
  27. 27Pennsylvania68.5%
  28. 28Indiana63.3%
  29. 29West Virginia63.0%
  30. 30New Mexico61.4%
  31. 31Alabama59.1%
  32. 32Kansas56.6%
  33. 33Ohio56.0%
  34. 34North Carolina55.6%
  35. 35Idaho55.2%
  36. 36Montana54.4%
  37. 37Iowa51.6%
  38. 38Tennessee49.7%
  39. 39Mississippi47.6%
  40. 40Arkansas47.1%
  41. 41Missouri39.0%
  42. 42North Dakota29.8%
  43. 43Wyoming28.7%
  44. 44California27.5%
  45. 45Nevada26.0%
  46. 46Texas21.9%
  47. 47Illinois15.9%
  48. 48Alaska8.8%
  49. 49New York7.8%
  50. 50South Dakota5.4%
  51. 51Florida3.5%
Share within 100 miles. Rank 1 at the top.
GeorgiaIndianaMaineMinnesotaNorth DakotaColoradoAlaskaArkansasIllinoisIowaMississippiNew YorkTennesseeTexasVirginiaKansasAlabamaNorth CarolinaMichiganMissouriNebraskaOhioSouth CarolinaVermontWisconsinCaliforniaKentuckySouth DakotaNevadaFloridaMarylandPennsylvaniaArizonaRhode IslandIdahoOregonMontanaWashingtonWest VirginiaNew MexicoNew HampshireOklahomaUtahWyomingHawaiiLouisianaMassachusettsConnecticutNew JerseyDelawareDistrict of Columbia

Darker states rank higher. Alaska and Hawaii are insets.

How the share is computed

For each state, every incorporated place of 1,000 or more is tested against a 100 mile circle around the stored capitol coordinate. The share is the population of places inside the circle over the population of all places in the state. People outside incorporated places are not counted. Place populations are the whole-place totals (summary level 162) from the Census Vintage 2024 subcounty estimates, so cities that span several counties count in full.

Questions people ask

Which state has the most central capital?

Connecticut, with 100.0% of its place population within 100 miles.

Does this count everyone?

No. It counts residents of incorporated places of 1,000 or more.

Suggested citation

Online Map Tools. "How central is each state capital?." Published 2026-09-30. https://onlinemaptools.com/rankings/population-near-state-capitals. Data: Census Vintage 2024 subcounty population estimates; Census 2024 Gazetteer, places.

Journalists, students and researchers may quote these figures and reuse the table. Please credit Online Map Tools and link to this page. The underlying government data is in the public domain.

Download the data (CSV)

Sources and data as of

Data as of: Census Vintage 2024 population estimates, 2024 Gazetteer land area and internal points, SAIPE 2023 median household income.

  1. 01Census Vintage 2024 subcounty population estimates
  2. 02Census 2024 Gazetteer, places

How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.

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