U.S. States Ranked by Area

U.S. States Ranked by Area The United States is the worlds third largest country by area, ranked behind Russia and Canada. Within that large are 50 states that vary widely in area. The largest state, Alaska, is more than 400 times larger than Rhode Island, the smallest state.  Including water features, Alaska is 663,267 square miles. In contrast, Rhode Island is a mere 1,545 square miles, and 500 square miles of that is Narragansett Bay. A Big Area Does Not Mean a Big Population Texas is bigger than California, making it the largest state of the 48 contiguous states, but measured by population, the rankings are reversed. California is the most populous state with  39,776,830 residents, according to 2017 U.S. Census estimates, while Texas had a population  of  28,704,330. The Lone Star State may be catching up, though, with a growth rate of 1.43 percent in 2017 compared with 0.61 percent for California. When ranked by population, Alaska drops to 48th place. Alaska  Is Larger Than the Next Three States Combined By area, Alaska is so large that it is larger than the next three states combined- Texas, California, and Montana- and is more than twice the size of second-ranked Texas. According to the State of Alaskas official website, its one-fifth the size of the lower 48 states. Alaska stretches about 2,400 miles east to west and 1,420 miles north to south. Including islands, the state has 6,640 miles of coastline (measured from point to point) and 47,300 miles of tidal shoreline.   Rhode Island Is the Smallest Rhode Island measures just 37 miles east to west and 48 miles north to south.  The states total boundary length is 160 miles. In area, Rhode Island could fit in Alaska  nearly 486 times. The next smallest state by  area  is Delaware at 2,489 square miles, followed by Connecticut, which at 5,543 square miles is more than three times the size of Rhode Island and more than twice the size of Delaware. If it were a state, the District of Columbia would be the smallest at just  68.34  square miles of which  61.05 square miles  is land and 7.29 square miles is water. Big Country West of the Mississippi The 10 largest states by area are located west of the Mississippi River:  Alaska, Texas, California, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, and Wyoming.   7 Smallest Are in the Northeast The seven smallest states- Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island- are in the Northeast and are among the 13 original colonies. The Ranking of States by Area in Square Miles This includes water features that are part of that state. Alaska - 663,267Texas - 268,580California - 163,695Montana - 147,042New Mexico - 121,589Arizona - 113,998Nevada - 110,560Colorado - 104,093Oregon - 98,380Wyoming - 97,813Michigan - 96,716Minnesota - 86,938Utah - 84,898Idaho - 83,570Kansas - 82,276Nebraska - 77,353South Dakota - 77,116Washington - 71,299North Dakota - 70,699Oklahoma - 69,898Missouri - 69,704Florida - 65,754Wisconsin - 65,497Georgia - 59,424Illinois - 57,914Iowa - 56,271New York - 54,556North Carolina - 53,818Arkansas - 53,178Alabama - 52,419Louisiana - 51,839Mississippi - 48,430Pennsylvania - 46,055Ohio - 44,824Virginia - 42,774Tennessee - 42,143Kentucky - 40,409Indiana - 36,417Maine - 35,384South Carolina - 32,020West Virginia - 24,229Maryland - 12,406Hawaii - 10,930Massachusetts - 10,554Vermont - 9,614New Hampshire - 9,349New Jersey - 8,721Connecticut - 5,543Delaware - 2,489Rhode Island - 1,545