State ranking

US states ranked by land area

All 50 states and DC by square miles of land.

Short answer

Alaska is the largest state by land with 571,242 square miles, 16.2% of the 3,533,469 square miles in the 50 states and DC. Texas is second at 261,259.
#1 Alaska
571,242
  1. 01Alaska571,242
  2. 02Texas261,259
  3. 03California155,859
  4. 04Montana145,550
  5. 05New Mexico121,313
  6. 06Arizona113,655
  7. 07Nevada109,860
  8. 08Colorado103,637
  9. 09Wyoming97,089
  10. 10Oregon95,997
  11. 11Idaho82,645
  12. 12Utah82,596
  13. 13Kansas81,759
  14. 14Minnesota79,632
  15. 15Nebraska76,815
  16. 16South Dakota75,808
  17. 17North Dakota68,994
  18. 18Missouri68,746
  19. 19Oklahoma68,597
  20. 20Washington66,455
  21. 21Georgia57,717
  22. 22Michigan56,611
  23. 23Iowa55,854
  24. 24Illinois55,513
  25. 25Wisconsin54,168
  26. 26Florida53,655
  27. 27Arkansas51,992
  28. 28Alabama50,651
  29. 29North Carolina48,624
  30. 30New York47,123
  31. 31Mississippi46,925
  32. 32Pennsylvania44,742
  33. 33Louisiana43,213
  34. 34Tennessee41,224
  35. 35Ohio40,859
  36. 36Kentucky39,485
  37. 37Virginia39,481
  38. 38Indiana35,825
  39. 39Maine30,845
  40. 40South Carolina30,064
  41. 41West Virginia24,041
  42. 42Maryland9,711
  43. 43Vermont9,217
  44. 44New Hampshire8,954
  45. 45Massachusetts7,801
  46. 46New Jersey7,355
  47. 47Hawaii6,423
  48. 48Connecticut4,842
  49. 49Delaware1,949
  50. 50Rhode Island1,034
  51. 51District of Columbia61
Land sq mi. 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.

Land area, not total area

The Census Gazetteer reports land and water separately. This ranking uses land only, summed from each state's counties, so lakes, bays, and coastal water inside state lines are left out. States with a lot of inland or coastal water rank lower here than in total-area tables.

Alaska alone has more land than the 23 smallest states combined.

Comparing sizes on a map

Web maps exaggerate northern states. To see true relative size, drag a county's outline with the county size comparison tool, which moves shapes on the sphere instead of on the flat map.

Questions people ask

Which state has the most land?

Alaska, with 571,242 square miles of land.

Which state has the least land?

District of Columbia (61 square miles). Among the 50 states it is Rhode Island, with 1,034.

Does this include water?

No. It is Census Gazetteer land area, which excludes inland and coastal water.

Suggested citation

Online Map Tools. "US states ranked by land area." Published 2026-09-30. https://onlinemaptools.com/rankings/states-by-land-area. Data: Census 2024 Gazetteer, counties.

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 2024 Gazetteer, counties

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

Browse every state on the states page.