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Top 10 most populous US states in the 2020 Census

Daily Tens #74 · Friday, September 25, 2026 · Ranked by 2020 census resident population

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Heads up: the answers are published further down this page.

About this ranking

The state-population puzzle uses the 2020 Census resident population, a count tied to the census reference date rather than a later annual estimate. The candidate pool is the fifty states. Washington, DC and territories are excluded. The chart below shows the ten saved counts from the source-checked archive, so it is a historical comparison and not a live population tracker.

The answers

  1. 1 California
  2. 2 Texas
  3. 3 Florida
  4. 4 New York
  5. 5 Pennsylvania
  6. 6 Illinois
  7. 7 Ohio
  8. 8 Georgia
  9. 9 North Carolina
  10. 10 Michigan

2020 Census resident population

Million residents · Linear scale starting at zero

  1. California 39.5
  2. Texas 29.1
  3. Florida 21.5
  4. New York 20.2
  5. Pennsylvania 13.0
  6. Illinois 12.8
  7. Ohio 11.8
  8. Georgia 10.7
  9. North Carolina 10.4
  10. Michigan 10.1

2020 resident counts from the September 6, 2026 source review, displayed in millions. DC and territories are excluded; annual estimates are not substituted.

Data: US Census Bureau: 2020 state geography table. Chart by Daily Tens.

A census count and an annual estimate

A decennial census counts residents under a defined reference-date and residence framework. Annual population estimates then use additional evidence to describe changes after that benchmark. They can put states in a different order as births, deaths and migration accumulate. Replacing one state’s 2020 count with a current estimate would create an inconsistent comparison. A 2020 Census ranking therefore remains meaningful as a fixed snapshot even when the newest population list has changed.

Resident population and other Census totals

The word resident matters. Census publications contain other totals and administrative uses, including figures for congressional apportionment. Those should not be substituted without checking their coverage. Residents are assigned to geographic units according to the Census residence rules, rather than simply counted where they happen to be visiting. The question uses the state resident-count column consistently. Land area and water area are not part of the ranking, even though the same geography reference can provide those measurements alongside population.

What the gaps add to the list

California’s saved count is about 39.5 million, compared with about 29.1 million for Texas. That difference is much larger than the gap between Georgia and North Carolina, even though both pairs occupy neighbouring rows. The linear bars make those differences visible without implying a population density comparison. A large total can arise over a large area, while a smaller state can have more residents per square kilometre. To reproduce density, population would need to be divided by a consistent land-area measure. This page compares totals only and keeps the original 2020 counts unchanged when replayed.

Sources & further reading

Explanation updated . The puzzle’s original data date is listed below.

Sources & methodology

Metric
2020 Census resident population
Data through
2020 Census
Source
US Census Bureau — 2020 state geography table
Notes
The 50 states only; excludes DC and territories. Density divides the 2020 resident count by land area, excluding water. Water-area comparisons include the Census Bureau’s inland and coastal water assignments.

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