Which state is the biggest?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states cover the most land? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… Texas!! This time I'm SURE!
Answer
The real order is…
Alaska is about 2.19× as big as #2 Texas!
📚 Background Alaska is more than twice the size of Texas. If you cut Alaska in half, Texas would drop to the third biggest state! (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer Files) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: 🏞️『Why is Alaska #1 in water area?』→ I bet… Texas!! This time I'm SURE!
Compare
Land area (sq mi, 2024 Gazetteer)
Most: Alaska (571,242 sq mi (land)); least shown here: Rhode Island (1,034 sq mi (land)).
Note: measured in square miles of land (water not counted).
Geography is destiny!
Recap
🏅 Today's discovery
🏅 Alaska is the USA's #1!
🐕 States in Numbers
Quiz a friend!
📋 See the ranking table (top 50)
| Rank | State | Value |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Alaska | 571,242 sq mi (land) |
| #2 | Texas | 261,259 sq mi (land) |
| #3 | California | 155,859 sq mi (land) |
| #4 | Montana | 145,550 sq mi (land) |
| #5 | New Mexico | 121,313 sq mi (land) |
| #6 | Arizona | 113,655 sq mi (land) |
| #7 | Nevada | 109,860 sq mi (land) |
| #8 | Colorado | 103,637 sq mi (land) |
| #9 | Wyoming | 97,089 sq mi (land) |
| #10 | Oregon | 95,997 sq mi (land) |
| #11 | Idaho | 82,645 sq mi (land) |
| #12 | Utah | 82,596 sq mi (land) |
| #13 | Kansas | 81,759 sq mi (land) |
| #14 | Minnesota | 79,632 sq mi (land) |
| #15 | Nebraska | 76,815 sq mi (land) |
| #16 | South Dakota | 75,808 sq mi (land) |
| #17 | North Dakota | 68,994 sq mi (land) |
| #18 | Missouri | 68,746 sq mi (land) |
| #19 | Oklahoma | 68,597 sq mi (land) |
| #20 | Washington | 66,455 sq mi (land) |
| #21 | Georgia | 57,717 sq mi (land) |
| #22 | Michigan | 56,611 sq mi (land) |
| #23 | Iowa | 55,854 sq mi (land) |
| #24 | Illinois | 55,513 sq mi (land) |
| #25 | Wisconsin | 54,168 sq mi (land) |
| #26 | Florida | 53,655 sq mi (land) |
| #27 | Arkansas | 51,992 sq mi (land) |
| #28 | Alabama | 50,651 sq mi (land) |
| #29 | North Carolina | 48,624 sq mi (land) |
| #30 | New York | 47,123 sq mi (land) |
| #31 | Mississippi | 46,925 sq mi (land) |
| #32 | Pennsylvania | 44,742 sq mi (land) |
| #33 | Louisiana | 43,213 sq mi (land) |
| #34 | Tennessee | 41,224 sq mi (land) |
| #35 | Ohio | 40,859 sq mi (land) |
| #36 | Kentucky | 39,485 sq mi (land) |
| #37 | Virginia | 39,481 sq mi (land) |
| #38 | Indiana | 35,825 sq mi (land) |
| #39 | Maine | 30,845 sq mi (land) |
| #40 | South Carolina | 30,064 sq mi (land) |
| #41 | West Virginia | 24,041 sq mi (land) |
| #42 | Maryland | 9,711 sq mi (land) |
| #43 | Vermont | 9,217 sq mi (land) |
| #44 | New Hampshire | 8,954 sq mi (land) |
| #45 | Massachusetts | 7,801 sq mi (land) |
| #46 | New Jersey | 7,355 sq mi (land) |
| #47 | Hawaii | 6,423 sq mi (land) |
| #48 | Connecticut | 4,842 sq mi (land) |
| #49 | Delaware | 1,949 sq mi (land) |
| #50 | Rhode Island | 1,034 sq mi (land) |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2024 Gazetteer)
Sources
Data as of: 2024 Gazetteer
U.S. Census Bureau: 2024 Gazetteer Files, state land area (ALAND_SQMI) (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-12) — Official published land areas (the committed raw file is the Bureau's Gazetteer state file, unchanged). No national bar is shown (the Bureau file lists states, not a U.S. total).
↳ On census.gov, search “Gazetteer Files”, download the 2024 state file, and read the ALAND_SQMI column.