How big is a state without its biggest city?
Rank the states by total population, then rank them again counting only the people who live outside each state's biggest metro area. Some states barely move. Others fall more than 10 places.
Some of the biggest moves
All 50 states, re-ranked by the people living outside their biggest metro area
Red lines fall 7 or more places. Teal lines rise 5 or more.
A state's population is really two numbers added together: its biggest metro area and everyone else. South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Tennessee have people spread across several cities and many small towns, so they climb when the biggest metro is set aside. New Jersey, Arizona, Illinois, and Nevada are mostly one metro area with a much smaller state around it.
A big total can hide where it comes from. Before comparing two totals, ask whether they're built the same way.
What other total looks big because of one large piece inside it?
The states at the extremes: how much of each lives in its biggest metro area
From the most concentrated to the least. "Rank without it" compares each state's everyone else with the other 49 states' everyone else.
See all 50 states
| State | Population | Biggest metro (in-state part) | Share | Everyone else | Rank: total → without | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 39.36M | Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim | 33% | 26.51M | 1st → 1st | – |
| Texas | 31.71M | Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington | 27% | 23.23M | 2nd → 2nd | – |
| Florida | 23.46M | Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach | 27% | 17.07M | 3rd → 3rd | – |
| New York | 20.00M | New York–Newark–Jersey City | 65% | 7.00M | 4th → 7th | ▼ 3 |
| Pennsylvania | 13.06M | Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington | 32% | 8.82M | 5th → 5th | – |
| Illinois | 12.72M | Chicago–Naperville–Elgin | 68% | 4.01M | 6th → 16th | ▼ 10 |
| Ohio | 11.90M | Columbus | 19% | 9.66M | 7th → 4th | ▲ 3 |
| Georgia | 11.30M | Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell | 57% | 4.82M | 8th → 11th | ▼ 3 |
| North Carolina | 11.20M | Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia | 22% | 8.71M | 9th → 6th | ▲ 3 |
| Michigan | 10.13M | Detroit–Warren–Dearborn | 43% | 5.74M | 10th → 8th | ▲ 2 |
| New Jersey | 9.55M | New York–Newark–Jersey City | 74% | 2.44M | 11th → 27th | ▼ 16 |
| Virginia | 8.88M | Washington–Arlington–Alexandria | 36% | 5.70M | 12th → 9th | ▲ 3 |
| Washington | 8.00M | Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue | 52% | 3.84M | 13th → 18th | ▼ 5 |
| Arizona | 7.62M | Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler | 69% | 2.39M | 14th → 28th | ▼ 14 |
| Tennessee | 7.32M | Nashville–Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin | 30% | 5.12M | 15th → 10th | ▲ 5 |
| Massachusetts | 7.15M | Boston–Cambridge–Newton | 64% | 2.58M | 16th → 24th | ▼ 8 |
| Indiana | 6.97M | Indianapolis–Carmel–Greenwood | 32% | 4.77M | 17th → 12th | ▲ 5 |
| Missouri | 6.27M | St. Louis | 34% | 4.13M | 18th → 15th | ▲ 3 |
| Maryland | 6.27M | Baltimore–Columbia–Towson | 46% | 3.41M | 19th → 21st | ▼ 2 |
| Colorado | 6.01M | Denver–Aurora–Centennial | 51% | 2.92M | 20th → 22nd | ▼ 2 |
| Wisconsin | 5.97M | Milwaukee–Waukesha | 26% | 4.40M | 21st → 14th | ▲ 7 |
| Minnesota | 5.83M | Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington | 63% | 2.18M | 22nd → 33rd | ▼ 11 |
| South Carolina | 5.57M | Greenville–Anderson–Greer | 18% | 4.56M | 23rd → 13th | ▲ 10 |
| Alabama | 5.19M | Birmingham | 23% | 4.00M | 24th → 17th | ▲ 7 |
| Louisiana | 4.62M | New Orleans–Metairie | 21% | 3.65M | 25th → 19th | ▲ 6 |
| Kentucky | 4.61M | Louisville/Jefferson County | 24% | 3.49M | 26th → 20th | ▲ 6 |
| Oregon | 4.27M | Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro | 47% | 2.28M | 27th → 31st | ▼ 4 |
| Oklahoma | 4.12M | Oklahoma City | 37% | 2.61M | 28th → 23rd | ▲ 5 |
| Connecticut | 3.69M | Hartford–West Hartford–East Hartford | 32% | 2.52M | 29th → 25th | ▲ 4 |
| Utah | 3.54M | Salt Lake City–Murray | 37% | 2.23M | 30th → 32nd | ▼ 2 |
| Nevada | 3.28M | Las Vegas–Henderson–North Las Vegas | 73% | 0.87M | 31st → 41st | ▼ 10 |
| Iowa | 3.24M | Des Moines–West Des Moines | 23% | 2.48M | 32nd → 26th | ▲ 6 |
| Arkansas | 3.11M | Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway | 25% | 2.34M | 33rd → 30th | ▲ 3 |
| Kansas | 2.98M | Kansas City | 32% | 2.04M | 34th → 34th | – |
| Mississippi | 2.95M | Jackson | 21% | 2.34M | 35th → 29th | ▲ 6 |
| New Mexico | 2.13M | Albuquerque | 44% | 1.20M | 36th → 36th | – |
| Idaho | 2.03M | Boise City | 43% | 1.17M | 37th → 37th | – |
| Nebraska | 2.02M | Omaha | 44% | 1.13M | 38th → 38th | – |
| West Virginia | 1.77M | Charleston | 11% | 1.57M | 39th → 35th | ▲ 4 |
| Hawaii | 1.43M | Urban Honolulu | 69% | 0.44M | 40th → 47th | ▼ 7 |
| New Hampshire | 1.42M | Boston–Cambridge–Newton | 32% | 0.96M | 41st → 39th | ▲ 2 |
| Maine | 1.41M | Portland–South Portland | 41% | 0.84M | 42nd → 42nd | – |
| Montana | 1.14M | Billings | 17% | 0.95M | 43rd → 40th | ▲ 3 |
| Rhode Island | 1.11M | Providence–Warwick | 100% | 0.00M | 44th → 50th | ▼ 6 |
| Delaware | 1.06M | Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington | 55% | 0.47M | 45th → 46th | ▼ 1 |
| South Dakota | 0.94M | Sioux Falls | 33% | 0.63M | 46th → 43rd | ▲ 3 |
| North Dakota | 0.80M | Fargo | 25% | 0.60M | 47th → 44th | ▲ 3 |
| Alaska | 0.74M | Anchorage | 55% | 0.33M | 48th → 49th | ▼ 1 |
| Vermont | 0.64M | Burlington–South Burlington | 35% | 0.42M | 49th → 48th | ▲ 1 |
| Wyoming | 0.59M | Cheyenne | 17% | 0.49M | 50th → 45th | ▲ 5 |
How we counted. "Metro area" means the Census Bureau's metropolitan statistical area: a big city plus the suburbs around it. For each state, the biggest metro is the one with the most residents inside that state, and only that in-state part is subtracted. So New Jersey's is the New York City metro's New Jersey counties, Virginia's is the Washington, D.C., suburbs in Virginia, Delaware's is the Wilmington area of the Philadelphia metro, and New Hampshire's is the Boston metro's two New Hampshire counties. All five of Rhode Island's counties are in metro Providence, so nothing is left. The second ranking compares each state's "everyone else" with every other state's "everyone else."
Explore more about where people actually live
Half of the World Lives Here shows how concentrated the world's population is, and Density Extremes shows how much of the U.S. has almost no one in it.
Related exhibits
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates (July 1, 2025): state totals (NST-EST2025-ALLDATA) and county-level metropolitan statistical area totals (cbsa-est2025-alldata), using the 2023 metro area definitions. In-state metro populations are sums of each metro's counties in that state.