By comparison, the state with the lowest population growth at the start of 2023 was West Virginia, whose population shrank by 0.33%. The greatest rate of growth at the start of 2023 belonged to Utah (1.50%), followed by Idaho (1.43%) and Texas (1.34%). Most states in the US are currently experiencing population growth. However, exceptions do exist-for example, the Great Lakes state of Illinois has the sixth-largest population of any state despite its Midwestern location. Conversely, interior states such as those in the Great Plains and Midwest tend to be less populous.

States on the country's border tend to be the most populous, whether they be located on the West Coast (California), the East Coast (New York, Florida, arguably Pennsylvania), or the southern border (Texas, Florida again). The population of the United States is distributed unevenly across the 50 states, Washington DC, and territories such as Puerto Rico. Population Distribution in the United States Washington DC posts a growth rate of 1.24%. However, if it were, its population of 715,891 would qualify it as the third-smallest state. The District of Columbia, known more commonly as Washington DC, is also not a state (rather, it is a Federal District). However, Puerto Rico is also experiencing negative population growth (-1.38%), higher than any state in the Continental US. Puerto Rico is a territory rather than a state, despite the fact that it has a larger population than 18 US states in 2023. As of early 2023, however, the only states with negative growth rates were West Virginia (-0.33%), Mississippi (-0.02%), and Illinois (-0.01%). The smallest state by population is Wyoming, with fewer than 600,000 residents and an annual growth rate that has trended negative at times in the past. Top 10 US States with the Smallest Populations**: 1,110,822) is the smallest state by land area, but it has a higher population than many larger states, including Alaska (740,339), both North and South Dakota (811,044 and 908,414, respectively), and Wyoming (580,817). States in New England, along the Northeast seaboard, tend to be quite small geographically but with higher populations.

It is notable that the three most populous states in the US are among the top ten states with the longest coastlines, and both California and Texas are among the largest states in the union by land area. About half of the 20.40 million people who live in the state of New York reside in New York City.

The third-most-populated state in the US is Florida, with a population of more than 22.3 million and a growth rate of 1.24% per year, and the state of New York ranks fourth. The impact of such differing growth rates is obvious when viewed over time: Since 2010, the population of Texas has increased by more than 20%, while California has grown just under 12%. Moreover, Texas has a growth rate of 1.34% per year, while California’s growth rate is notably lower at 0.57%. Texas has the second-largest population of any US state, with more than 30 million residents (9% of the US total) as of 2023. If California were a country, it would have the fourth- or fifth-largest economy in the world and the 38th-highest population, ahead of countries including Canada, Australia, Peru, and Greece.

By far the most populous state in the United States is California, which has more than 40 million residents and comprises nearly 12% of the country’s total population.

Us map of population density by state