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US States & Territories Resized By Population

Last Updated: March 3, 2023 3 Comments

US territories by size

Map created by Reddit user purplepinkwhiteblue

Using data from the US Census Bureau, the map above resizes each US state and territory based on population. If you don’t spend your time looking at population statistics there are likely a few surprises:

  • Puerto Rico (PR) with 3.5 million people is the largest territory by population and would become the 29th most populous state if given statehood.
  • Washington DC with 659,000 people is larger than both Vermont (627,000) and Wyoming (584,000), the two smallest states.
  • Other territories you might not be familiar with are: Guam (GU; pop: 159,000), U.S. Virgin Islands (VI; pop 106,000), American Samoa (AS; pop: 56,000) and Northern Mariana Islands (MP; pop: 54,000)

In terms of population the 5 largest states are:

  1. California – 38.8 million
  2. Texas – 27.0 million
  3. Florida – 19.9 million
  4. New York – 19.7 million
  5. Illinois – 12.9 million

The 5 smallest states by population are:

  1. Wyoming – 584,000
  2. Vermont – 627,000
  3. Alaska – 737,000
  4. North Dakota – 739,000
  5. South Dakota – 853,000

To learn more about US population and/or territories, have a look at the following books:

  • State Profiles 2014: The Population and Economy of Each U.S. State (U.S. Databook Series)
  • Empire of Mud: The Secret History of Washington, DC
  • War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America’s Colony

Given that both DC and Puerto Rico have more people than some states, do you think it’s time they were given statehood. Leave your comments below:

Filed Under: United States Tagged With: population

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Comments

  1. Tomas Votruba says

    November 18, 2018 at 6:38 pm

    Beautiful! 🙂

    Reply
  2. PATRICK EDWARD MURPHY says

    October 26, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    Yes

    Reply
  3. Lynda Wright says

    November 2, 2020 at 2:42 pm

    I strongly believe Puerto Rico should become our 51st state! Hopefully, we’ll have a Democratic landslide in 2020 and all citizen rights will be top priority!

    Reply

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