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Top 10 least populous US states in the 2020 Census

Daily Tens #86 · Wednesday, October 7, 2026 · Ranked by 2020 census resident population, smallest first

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

About this ranking

Wyoming’s 576,851 residents made it the least populous state in the 2020 Census. New Hampshire, the tenth entry in this ascending list, had 1,377,529—about 2.39 times as many. These are resident counts at a fixed census date, not the latest estimates and not a measure of how crowded each state feels.

The answers

2020 resident population for the archived answer set
Rank Answer 2020 resident population
1 Wyoming 576,851
2 Vermont 643,077
3 Alaska 733,391
4 North Dakota 779,094
5 South Dakota 886,667
6 Delaware 989,948
7 Montana 1,084,225
8 Rhode Island 1,097,379
9 Maine 1,362,359
10 New Hampshire 1,377,529

Values follow the dated source snapshot and the original answer order. Rounding is for display only; the ranking uses the stored values.

The ten smallest state populations

Million residents · Linear scale starting at zero

  1. Wyoming 0.577
  2. Vermont 0.643
  3. Alaska 0.733
  4. North Dakota 0.779
  5. South Dakota 0.887
  6. Delaware 0.990
  7. Montana 1.084
  8. Rhode Island 1.097
  9. Maine 1.362
  10. New Hampshire 1.378

2020 Census resident counts; 50 states eligible. Bars increase down the list because this puzzle ranks smallest first.

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

The population being counted

The census resident population includes people whose usual residence is in the state. It is different from a count of voters, citizens, tourists or everyone physically present on a particular day. The reference date is April 1, 2020. A later annual estimate should not be substituted for one state while retaining census counts for the others. Using a common date and population definition is what makes the ten-way comparison meaningful and reproducible.

Small population does not mean small area

Alaska is third on this list even though it is the largest US state by area. Rhode Island, the smallest state by area, is eighth here rather than first. These two entries provide a quick check against confusing population and geography. Density adds another denominator: residents divided by land area. A state can therefore have few residents overall and still be densely populated, or have many square kilometres with relatively few people distributed across them.

The close comparisons are more revealing

Montana’s 1,084,225 residents and Rhode Island’s 1,097,379 differ by only 13,154. Maine and New Hampshire differ by 15,170. Those gaps are much smaller than the roughly 800,678-person spread from Wyoming to New Hampshire. A chart beginning at zero preserves the actual ratios; the exact counts in the table retain the detail needed to understand nearby ranks. Alphabetical ordering or rounded million-person labels would obscure several of these distinctions.

Eligibility and the meaning of last place

Only the 50 states are eligible. Washington, DC and US territories are excluded even if their populations would place them among these entries. The list runs from smallest to larger, so the first row is the minimum, not a “winner” in a performance sense. Census population is a scale measure rather than a judgement of desirability or prosperity. Comparisons with statehood dates, electoral votes or congressional representation require separate rules and should not be inferred from this ten-row resident count alone.

Sources & further reading

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

Sources & methodology

Metric
2020 Census resident population, smallest first
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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